Should fat people pay more tax?
 

Are Fat People Destroying Earth?

Are Fat People Destroying Earth?
Robert Roy Britt

The news that fat people could help save Earth by eating less generated big headlines yesterday. But many people question whether it's good science or bad manners to pin the planet's woes on the overweight.

The news was based on a report from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, which says:

"Because food production is a major contributor to global warming, a lean population, such as that seen in Vietnam, will consume almost 20 percent less food and produce fewer greenhouse gases than a population in which 40 percent of people are obese (close to that seen in the USA today). ... Transport-related emissions will also be lower because it takes less energy to transport slim people. The researchers estimate that a lean population of 1 billion people would emit 1.0 GT (1,000 million tons) less carbon dioxide equivalents per year compared with a fat one."

The researchers, Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts, note that obesity is on the rise all over the world. All medical experts agree this is a health problem. Obesity has been linked to everything from deadly diabetes to increased risk of cancer. Many analysts fear the U.S. healthcare system — already in bad shape — could crumble under the weight of what many doctors see as the obesity epidemic.

The scientists are not the first to point out that heavier people have a bigger carbon footprint. But in putting some numbers to it, they've pulled no punches.

"When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler," Edwards and Roberts said in a statement. "The heavier our bodies become the harder and more unpleasant it is to move about in them and the more dependent we become on our cars. Staying slim is good for health and for the environment. We need to be doing a lot more to reverse the global trend towards fatness, and recognize it as a key factor in the battle to reduce emissions and slow climate change."

Lay on the guilt

There are questions to raise, however, about whether science goes too far in pushing for lifestyle and public policy changes. As John Tierney writes in his New York Times blog, "Do we really need to give fat people one more reason to feel guilty?"

How you answer that question probably depends on whether you see obesity as largely a lifestyle choice or as a correctable behavior problem — or some combination thereof. Is obesity just about indulgence and therefore akin to smoking, thus something that should be derided, discouraged, even taxed? Or is obesity a medical condition more like other diseases and thus one we need to solve with drugs and other compassionate interventions?

The answers depend at least in part on science that is incomplete right now. Some evidence has suggested that the propensity for immensity is at least partly inherited, and other studies have indicated that obesity might even be contagious.

So whatever, fat people should eat better and exercise more, right?

The science there is tricky, too. Certainly a good diet is important for everyone. But if someone has a genetic predisposition to obesity, they may not have the ability to change things much through diet alone. And a recent study called into question the whole notion that exercise can cure obesity. As good as working out is for you, diet seems to be the main factor in obesity, researchers at Loyola University Health System and other institutions found.

Buy two seats

Last week plus-size folks were told they'd have to pay for two seats on United Airlines, a tactic already employed by a handful of other airlines. Some slim people interviewed by the media saw this as just punishment for those who commit "seat infringement," while others see it as flat-out discrimination.

Certainly, a slimmer society would mean healthier people (reduced chance of deadly diabetes being among the most significant benefits) and yes, a lower carbon footprint. Slimming down is also said to improve your sex life.

The big question society now faces — one only breezed by in this week's flap — is whether obese people should be prodded into behavioral changes for the greater good, or if their condition should be viewed as a disability, as is the case in Canada (where that extra plane seat is, by law, free).

And before answering that question, it is worth asking this one: Should we also pressure behavioral changes among others who stamp the planet with their own carbon-footprint excesses, such as wine drinkers, people who don't recycle, spammers and even Googlers?

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/00...-valley-02.jpg

where does the line get drawn then? its like saying anyone that has a condition or disease should be put blamed on since they are all pulling in extra resources of one kind or another.

^ ok that's a good point, because people with disease or condition will probably get some sort of medical care, so should fat people for personal training, liposuction, nutrition counselling and whatnot

Promote healthy living by giving healthy people a tax break, that's a more reasonable solution than to tax fat people.

If people participate in specific events and complete events such as marathons they have government sponsored incentives, that type of thing.

And also, why is obesity a disease again? How is leading an unhealthy lifestyle a disease?

mcdonalds crew checking in.

ex mcdonald crew here

In terms of food, the world produces enough to feed everyone on the planet 3 times over. Capitalism gets in the way of that as it gets in the way of a lot of aspects surrounding health and the environment.

I came in here to say exactly that ^^

Bill Maher was saying this 20 years ago ... Taxes on junk food, tax breaks for farmers/companies who produce organic produce ...

articles from 2009. Where do you get these timpo?

Also people (like their example of vietnam) aren't lean because they eat less, they eat less because they're already small, and poor.

Visit any culture where typically small/lean people exist, give them access to cheap starchy/sugary fattening food, give them a way to make money without doing physical work, and they are just as fat and unhealthy as cultures who started doing this 50 years ago.

Also plenty of these lean people end up being sick with diabetes and heart disease anyway, because even though they are smaller, they still eat crappy diets throughout their lives.

This whole thing is... well timporiffic

This just remind me earlier I saw a really fat person waiting for the bus at metro and he was sweating non stop lol. I guess in hot weather the fat people have it worse.

you are heavier --> spend more gas to move your ass in your car
heavier -> more trama to your knees and the rest of your body as you have unoptimal weight to lug around

no. but tax GTR-lovers who post meaningless articles from half a decade ago, they waste too much bandwidth


:troll:

Government should tax junk food. And use the tax proceeds to subsidize the cost of healthy food..fruits, veggies, etc

people are innately greedy, selfish, lazy+, and generally disgusting. that is why the richest nations, the US, UK, Canada, amongst others, are full of fat fucks who have no self control, they just want to constantly satisfy their desire for quick, convenient, tasty food.

personally, i think shit food should be taxed, based on its sugar content, fat content, fructose content, etc. with those funds used to subsidize cheaper alternatives, though to be honest, food is so cheap in North America that eating healthy is relatively easy, it's just that people are lazy and don't want to be bothered to actually spend time thinking about what to cook, how to cook it, and then cooking it.

the most amazing thing of all of this is that eating a vegetarian diet is way cheaper than a meat based diet and is way healthier, yet how many poor fat people are vegetarian? how many poor people are vegetarian? (those are rhetorical questions)

you'd want to make the food cheaper rather than putting money in ppl's pockets (though i get what you're saying)

also, marathons (again, you're just giving an example, it just sucks) are net negative on your body, the damage to your joints and muscles outweigh the perceived benefits of running 26 miles.

in the end of the day, i believe the government should serve the people, not the other way around. if you want to eat shit, you shouldn't get government assisted healthcare. i'd be happy for there to be a sliding scale of fees associated with healthcare based on your weight / fitness level. There are many complications associated with this, but fuck it, i'd rather not have my tax dollars spent on smokers with lung disease, or fat people with diabetes or the bazillion other health problems that come with being overweight. but i'm an arsehole...

foodies should be treated like drug addicts.

hahaha

foodies should be shot for using that word!

aren't we all foodies? don't we all enjoy food?

"Foodies" are just pretentious prats that like food.

If you tax junk food, what's the classification on junk food? High cal, high sodium, fat, etc? I'm sure some legit restos serve food that have higher 'junk' content. How about desserts?

Tough. I like the idea of getting a discount on msp or smth if you submit sports league membership fees, gym membership, etc.

This makes more sense, since the idea of 'junk food' is usually wrong.. well not so much that, but most people think the alternative is 'healthy food' when in fact it is also junk food.

It would be tragic if a hamburger or something was taxed as junk food, but a giant bowl of pho wasn't. Because you know that's what they would do.

but fat people do pay more taxes as they're buying food for 20ppl and most of it is processed foods + they're paying more in petrol to get around not to mention higher electricity/gas fees due to constantly cooking or having the a/c on 24/7 :D

anorexic people be allowed to fit two people in one seat then. two people, one seat, get those frequent flyers to slim down to a healthy 68lbs!!

either way, in the end, fuck it. i will eat what i want when i want and be the judge of my own life. am i fat? no. am i healthy? to an extent. do i love junk food? absolutely, nothing i love better than a big ole bag of salt n' vinegar chips! if someones not happy about my eating habits, then they can go fuck themselves.

Instead, the US government heavily subsidizes farmers who grow corn, which only a tiny percentage of it is actually edible in it's natural form. The rest is processed into HFCS and other materials.

just wow at some of the comments in here. people are so fucking shallow...

not all fat people are fat because of being lazy and eating too much.. this should just be about unhealthy people in general. how many skinny people are out there that smoke and eat like shit all day? LOTS. they should be taxed as well because they also are a drain on our fucking health care system because of their stupidity.

because i know this will be posted by someone else anyways, yes i am fat(NOT OBESE). fuck you. i'm a healthy fat person though, meaning while on the outside i may not look healthy, on the inside everything is within speck. i get all my tests done on time and everything always comes back above average. i just carry around some extra weight..

oh and under the old HST system, fruits and veggies etc weren't taxed. only processed food was. but you can thank the stupid fucking general public and bill vander zalms dumb ass for getting rid of that.