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- Support
Introduce a Sugar Tax
Childhood obesity is a ticking time bomb for our health system. It is related essentially to diet. There is no convincing evidence that activity levels in children has changed. The issue is complex but the "low-hanging fruit" is fizzy drinks. As long as the tax goes towards something useful rather than disappearing into the consolidated fund people will support it. In Mexico the tax went to providing quality water in schools. Perhaps in NZ it could go towards providing healthy school lunches. In Mexico the tax on sugar sweetened beverages was associated with reductions in purchases of taxed beverages and increases in purchases of untaxed beverages. This research was published in the British Medical Journal. Of course the Industry disputes this, but I would rather trust the independent research.
Do you like this suggestion?
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Alan Barraclough commented 2016-12-01 10:54:49 +1300The purpose of reducing sugar is not just to tackle child obesity. It reduces heart attack rates, it reduces complications for diabetics and reduces cancer rates. This is recent scientific research that points to spiky and ongoing raised (even slightly) sugar levels as increasing heart attack and cancer rates.
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Matt Walkington commented 2016-12-01 10:44:45 +1300The way I would implement this tax is with a generalised NZ Fee and Dividend Scheme that incorporated green house gas emissions and as many other “behaviour modification taxes” as we need.
http://www.top.org.nz/mattw/the_new_zealand_fee_and_dividend_scheme -
Matt Walkington tagged this with essential 2016-12-01 10:44:44 +1300
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duncan cairncross commented 2016-11-30 23:20:24 +1300The childhood “obesity” problem is not necessarily a serious problem
BUT the effect of sugar and refined carbs – especially on peoples who have not been winnowed by similar diets over the last few hundred years – is a major problem
Reducing the sugar will help us all -
Robert Murray commented 2016-11-30 23:13:28 +1300Is there convincing evidence that a reduction in sweetened drinks will address the childhood obesity problem? Might it be necessary to tax all manufactured foods to achieve this? I have no problem with taxing sweetened drinks but would like to make sure it is going to have the claimed benefit. Mexico does have a similar obesity problem but is it reducing in line with the reduction in consumption. If not, why bother? If it does proceed, I suggest the money goes directly to subsidise milk: if milk was cheaper than “fizzy drinks” it would become the product of choice.
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Gene Dalefield tagged this with important 2016-11-30 15:40:20 +1300
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Alan Barraclough commented 2016-11-29 21:26:29 +1300As a diabetic i am so upset giant sugar has put sugar as a cheap filler in everything. Baked beans.. every canned food.. it is slowly killing us, makig diabetics blind, turning out toes blue and leading to kidney failure. Please please please tax sugar so it is not a cheap volume filler
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Alan Barraclough tagged this with essential 2016-11-29 21:26:29 +1300
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Sue Rine tagged this with essential 2016-11-29 19:02:59 +1300
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David Johnston tagged this with important 2016-11-29 12:49:02 +1300
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Nathan Rattray tagged this with interesting 2016-11-29 11:45:00 +1300
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Nathan Rattray tagged this with important 2016-11-29 11:44:59 +1300
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Hadley Pettigrew commented 2016-11-29 10:44:33 +1300Being overweight entirely from sugar consumption, I think this needs to be done, it has been proven to work in Mexico.
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Hadley Pettigrew tagged this with important 2016-11-29 10:44:33 +1300
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Graeme Kiyoto-Ward commented 2016-11-28 23:12:22 +1300Said it before and will say it again. Need to put an end to industries who externalized their costs. Sugar, tobacco, etc. Great places to start.
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Graeme Kiyoto-Ward tagged this with interesting 2016-11-28 23:12:22 +1300
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Graeme Kiyoto-Ward tagged this with important 2016-11-28 23:12:21 +1300
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Graeme Kiyoto-Ward tagged this with essential 2016-11-28 23:12:21 +1300
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Bruce Thomas tagged this with important 2016-11-28 17:54:42 +1300
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Mathew Knight tagged this with important 2016-11-28 17:02:04 +1300
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Tam Eaton followed this page 2016-11-28 15:44:03 +1300
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Tim O’Donnell tagged this with important 2016-11-28 14:23:41 +1300
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duncan cairncross commented 2016-11-28 13:37:32 +1300Less worried about obesity – more worried about the effects on the body of too much sugar/refined carbs
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duncan cairncross tagged this with important 2016-11-28 13:37:31 +1300
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