Obesity Monitor

Tax on Obesity? December 19, 2008

That’s what the governor of New York is proposing.  See his argument here.

My first inclination was to be appalled and offended.  After reading through his argument, however, I see that he makes some good points.  I don’t know about the feasibility of taxing sugary soft drinks, although their inclusion in one’s diet can make weight gain almost inevitable.  I do support the idea of putting extra money generated by the tax toward public health programs.   There is a desperate need for educational programs to teach people how to take care of themselves.  We can ban, tax and regulate everything under the sun, but until we inform people, we’ll never solve the problem.  We’ll only treat the symptoms.

What do you think?