'Obesity Tax' Calls Attention to Financial
Costs of Excess Weight
When New York Gov. David Patterson unveiled a $121 billion budget for 2009, his plan to overcome the state's $15 billion deficit included a 3 percent cut in education spending, a $3.5 billion reduction in health care expenditures, and tuition hikes for state universities.
But of all the proposed spending cuts and fee increases, two words seemed to prompt the most spirited debate: obesity tax.
Patterson's "obesity tax" plan involves placing a 15 percent surcharge on non-diet soft drinks. If the proposal is passed into law, New York stores that sell cans of Diet Coke for $1 would have to charge $1.15 for a similarly sized can of regular Coke. A Dec. 14 article in the New York Daily News reported that the governor believes the tax could generate more than $400 million in additional annual revenue for the state.
Raising Money & Saving Lives?
A commentary by the governor that appeared four days later on the CNN website indicates that fiscal responsibility wasn't Patterson's only motivation for proposing the fee. He also believes that the price increase will help combat obesity, especially among the state's youngest residents.
According to an excerpt from Patterson's commentary, the governor believes that paying more for high-calorie sodas will help reduce obesity in the same way that taxes on tobacco products have convinced thousands of smokers to kick their habit:
Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a new public health epidemic: childhood obesity.
What smoking was to my parents' generation, obesity is to my children's generation. Nearly one out of every four New Yorkers under the age of 18 is obese. In many high-poverty areas, the rate is closer to one out of three.
That is why, in the state budget I presented last Tuesday, I proposed a tax on sugared beverages like soda. Research has demonstrated that soft-drink consumption is one of the main drivers of childhood obesity.
Our tax would apply only to sugared drinks - including fruit drinks that are less than 70 percent juice - that are nondiet. The $404 million this tax would raise next year will go toward funding public health programs, including obesity prevention programs, across New York state.
The surgeon general estimates that obesity was associated with 112,000 deaths in the United States every year. Here in New York state, we spend almost $6.1 billion on health care related to adult obesity - the second-highest level of spending in the nation.
Will it Work?
Patterson isn't the first person to attempt to combat obesity with fines or financial incentives. In August 2008, the Alabama legislature passed a law that would impose a $25 monthly fine on state employees who refuse a free health screening, or who fail to follow recommendations (such as participating in a wellness program to lose weight) that result from their evaluation.
And earlier in 2008, the Mississippi legislature garnered headlines (and earned quite a bit of scorn) over a proposal to revoke the health department licenses of restaurants that serve food to obese customers.
But while these financial proposals make for interesting news articles, the question that no one has conclusively answered is "do they work?" Many people, including (to no one's surprise) the leaders of the American Beverage Association (ABA), don't think they will.
A statement that appeared on the ABA website described the New York proposal as "purely a money grab" that is based on "flawed" logic. "It makes no sense to single out one food product as the cause for obesity. There is no science or logic that justifies it," the statement reads. "Rather, we need to focus on promoting balanced eating habits and more physical activity. Until we get our kids exercising more the scales will be tipped against our next generation."
Though Patterson's proposal has drawn praise as well as criticism, most experts acknowledge that childhood obesity is the result of a number of biological, behavioral, and societal factors.
The Costs of Obesity
Even without tax increases or state-mandated fines, obese individuals are already paying for their weight. According to an article by Tina Peng that appeared in the Aug. 15, 2008 edition of Newsweek, obese adults are already taking financial hits in the following four areas:
Wages - "Stanford University researchers found that obese men and women earn, on average, $3.41 per hour less than their peers," Peng wrote. "Over the course of a year, that means $7,093 in lost income."
Work Hours - The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has estimated that obese employees lose one week of work every year due to weight-related health issues
Medical Costs - Citing The Fattening of America by Eric Finkelstein and Laura Zuckerman, Peng reported that overweight men pay $170 more in medical costs that do thinner co-workers, and overweight women pay $495 more than female co-workers with lower body mass indices.
Travel Costs - Some airlines require exceptionally large travelers to purchase two seats to accommodate their size, Peng noted. And when they're travelling on the road, overweight drivers and passengers need to put more gas into their cars. "A 2006 study published in the journal The Engineering Economist found that Americans pumped 938 million more gallons of fuel a year than they did in 1960 because of their heftier frames," Peng wrote.
Saving Money, Improving Health
Regardless of one's financial well-being, following a more nutritious diet and getting adequate amounts of exercise can increase health and lower the likelihood of experiencing one of the many negative health effects that are related to being overweight or obese.
Depending upon an individual's current health and medical history, losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy body mass index can be achieved on one's own, through participation with a weight loss group, or by enrolling in a medically supervised wellness program. Though the principles of weight loss and maintenance are fundamentally the same for all people, the particulars of the path each person takes toward better health are determined by their own unique strengths and needs.
For more information about how you can lose weight (and, depending upon where you live, save some money), contact your health care provider, research options at your local library, or learn more about the opportunities that are available through established and effective online weight loss and obesity treatment resources.
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