With obesity costing the nation an estimated $147 billion each year, a national strategy to combat the problem is in order. One fix suggested by a recent report in the medical journal Archives of Internal Medicine is to tax two foods near and dear to many Americans — pizza and soda.
Researchers wrote that a tax of 18 percent on pizza and soda could reduce intake by a daily average of 56 calories per person. That modest decrease, in turn, would result is an average weight loss of 5 pounds per year. Not a lot, but considering the effects of gaining 5 pounds a year, this is significant.
“While such policies will not solve the obesity epidemic in its entirety and may face considerable opposition from food manufacturers and sellers,” the researchers wrote, “they could prove an important strategy to address overconsumption, potentially aid in weight loss and reduced rates of diabetes among U.S. adults.”
Of course, such use of taxes to modify public behavior and improve collective health is not unprecedented. The federal tax on a pack of cigarettes was raised last year to $1.01. In Maine, the federal tax combined with state tax equates to $3.01 per pack. Studies have shown that increasing the cost of a pack of cigarettes is an effective disincentive for teens beginning to take up the habit, and an incentive for older adults to quit.
Pizza and soda are not addictive and in moderate amounts, and occasional indulgences, are not going to push someone toward diabetes or heart disease. But for many, particularly children and young adults, a steady diet of pizza and soda becomes a lifestyle.
Taxes on soda have been proposed in several states — including Maine, where the tax was repealed in a citizen-initiated referendum. In the Maine case, the national beverage industry contributed significant funds supporting the repeal. Observers said these national corporations wanted to turn the tide on an emerging trend.
If a soda tax is warranted, and if the case can be made that soda is not real food and contributes to bad health, the federal, not state, government should be the source of a soda tax. Pizza, as a prepared food, varies widely in its ingredients, so taxing it at the federal or state level is less practical.
As some observers have said of the soda tax being proposed in California, it is actually a more “honest accounting” of the true costs of the product. If a particular car were shown to wear out the pavement on roads much more quickly than every other car, a tax on that car to cover the cost of new pavement would be understandable.
Likewise, a tax on the cause of that spare tire around our midsections may be in our future.