To combat the growing problem of child obesity, a French report Tuesday suggested imposing an anti-obesity tax on sweet and fatty foods, while British health officials want to avoid the label "obese" for very overweight children. The French plan would target foods such as pizzas and hamburgers as well as sodas and alcohol.
Drawn up jointly by the French tax and social affairs inspectorates, the report was handed to Budget Minister Eric Woerth and his counterpart for health Roselyne Bachelot late last month, ministry officials said Tuesday. According to Les Echos newspaper, it calls for the VAT sales tax rate to be lifted from 5.5 percent to 19.6 percent on all food stuffs considered "too rich, too sweet, too salty and which are not strictly necessary." Meanwhile, health authorities in Britain rejected criticism of plans to use the word "very overweight" instead of "obese" in letters to the parents of schoolchildren. Officials said research showed the term obese "shuts people down" and was regarded as "highly offensive." Instead they have recommended that the alternative term be used for children whose body mass index (BMI) exceeds 30. The National Obesity Forum accused the government of being "prissy" and "namby pamby" by avoiding the word.
The proposals are designed to tackle the growing problem in Britain of overweight children, but the letters will put the onus on parents to contact their doctors or school nurse if they want further information. Parents will be informed of the child's height and weight and say whether they are underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or very overweight. Will Cavendish, director of health and wellbeing at the Department of Health, said there was a danger that parents would not react to the information at all if they received a letter containing the word "obese". Tam Fry, a board member of the National Obesity Forum, however, said experts in the United States had also suggested banning the term obese but had now decided the word was necessary. Two thirds of French men and half of all women aged 35 to 74 are thought to be overweight, according to a study released in June, while one fifth of all adults are obese.
France has taken steps to combat obesity in children with vending machines banned in schools since 2005. A national programme in Britain now aims to weigh and measure children at age four to five and again aged 10 to 11, but parents can opt out of the process. [End of report]
Therefore, whose responsibility is it to ensure that the child doesnt eat more than what is needed. Should the parents play a more important role in ensuring that doesnt happen or should the government do the job all by itself. If you ask me, everyone including the child himself should do their part. But Im not going to talk about that, I am only interested to comment on the report. Im not sure if an anti-obesity tax on sweet and fatty foods is a good idea. The fact that the French government is considering to tax those kind of foods shows how dire the situation is and how desperate they are to stop the problem. I think when you want to put such measures into the system, it is important that they not only think about the people suffering from obesity but as well as those who are not. Im sure for those people who are not suffering from obesity, they would want to have those sweet and fatty foods once in a while and I dont think it is fair that they will also have to pay a higher amount if they want to eat those kind of food. It is also highly doubtful that the food companies which are selling those food will support that idea because it would likely mean that they will lose a lot of their customers. On the other hand though, I understand that the intentions is good. Who knows it might even work. People tend to stay away from things that are too expensive and it might have the same effect on the obesity kids too. Nevertheless, I think the 14 percent increase on the VAT sales tax is too much.
Then there is the issue on what term should we give to children who are obese. I dont know about you, but I still think the term 'obese' sounds much better than 'very overweight' whether the British schools are sending letters to the parents or when it is used to describe someone who is obese. As you can read from the report above, the British government is mulling on whether to use the term 'obese' or 'very overweight' when they are sending letters to the parents of obese children. Yes the term 'obese' might have a negative effect on the child but I find it could be even more detrimental to the child if they are being called 'very overweight'. I have to agree with the report when it says that the word obese will more likely to make the parents sit up and take notice when the receive a letter because it is commonly used to describe someone who is overweight as compared to the term 'very overweight'. Whatever the term is used to describe an obese child, there is a more important message that lies within which is ensuring that an obese child gets the attention of the parents.
I believe the parents themselves has an important part to play if they have an obese child and that is to know how serious the problem is and try to make sure that it does not get out of control. They cant just depend on the schools and the governments to look after their child, as their parents, they should take some responsibility too. Some of you might be surprise that obesity is a common problem in many parts of Europe, including the States as well but even here in Singapore, we are facing that problem as well. I did some research and found out that the number of people here who are obese are increasing each year. According to the statistics I found from the Health Promotion Board, 6.9 per cent of adults here were obese in 2004, up from 5.1 per cent in 1992. Similarly, 3.6 per cent of children were found to be obese last year, up from 2.8 per cent in 1994. The situation here is not as bad in America or Europe but that doesnt mean we should just sit back and do nothing. That is why you see there are many programmes being introduced, for example in the schools here, that aims at helping obese children to lose some of their weight like the TAF Club and recently, we have seen many school vendors selling wide variety of healthier food.
So remember to look after your health especially what you eat because obesity can be a serious problem. Over-indulging can lead to obesity, a major cause of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers and you definitely dont want to see that happening to you right? Try to exercise regularly as well whether you are obese or not, I have not been doing that for a very long time, but if anyone wants to ask me out for a jog, please feel free to do so. My message to you is dont just eat what you like, but know what you are eating too. Till then, stay safe and healthy.
*The report was taken from AFP.
No comments:
Post a Comment