Will ‘Junk food tax’ help to counter rising obesity levels in India?
According to the World Obesity Federation, India will be a chief driver of the explosion of childhood obesity by 2030 and will rank second with 28 million obese kids. This is a matter of grave concern for India as it accounts for the largest youth population around the world. From kids to millennials who have an incessant craving for junk and ignorance of the diet they consume, what kind of unhealthy future are we leading in to?
Why are we becoming fat?
According to an article by Livemint, an inactive lifestyle and an unhealthy diet are the main culprits. “White bread, white rice, phulkas…the overall intake of simple carbohydrates is huge. The widespread availability of fast food is also a problem,” says Ambrish Mithal, chairman and head, department of endocrinology and diabetes, at Medanta, the Medicity, Gurugram. The higher people rise in the social order, the less they work by hand. “Whatever little movement we do is paid activity, like going to the gym or yoga,” says Sapra.
A bad lifestyle is the key cause of obesity; contrary to popular belief, the experts we spoke to say genetics or metabolic disorders do not play a significant role.
Unfortunately, experts say that weight gain is not taken seriously in India until it becomes a serious problem.
Have you heard of the ‘Eat Right India’ campaign?
Food safety and standard authority of India (FSSAI) launched a movement in September 2019, to promote healthy and clean eating habits and encourage people to consume a nutritious and balanced diet.
“Eat Right India’ is a crucial trigger for much needed social and behavioral change. This along with the ‘Fit India Movement’, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will help fight lifestyle diseases like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes effectively.”, says Health minister Harsh Vardhan.
“The FSSAI has trained about 1.7 lakh food safety supervisors for capacity building under the Food Safety Training and Certification initiative. They will ask people and food vendors to comply with the food safety norms, including the hygiene aspect,” the minister said.
Active campaigning and mass movements by the Government should inform its citizens about living a healthy lifestyle, as ‘eating right’ is the first step.
Will a nationwide ‘Junk food tax’ discourage unhealthy eating habits?
As obesity levels in India are touching a new high, the Kerela Government in 2016 introduced a ‘Junk food tax’ or ‘Fat tax’ on big multinational junk food joints like Burger King, McDonald’s, Pizza hut, Dominoes, etc. It was introduced to slow down junk food consumption and encourage a healthy diet.
It is liable for food which is not meant for large-scale consumption. The tax rate of 14.5% was introduced on pizza and burgers sold openly at the Kerela renaissance cultural complex and indoor stadiums. Various food joints have discouraged this move of the government and said it was ‘discriminatory and unfair’.
The government said the revenue collected through this tax would be used in development schemes majorly in healthcare.
According to an article by the Guardian in 2016, Kerala is the second most obese state, after Punjab.
Dr. Haris Azeez, a gastric bypass surgeon, calls Kerala the “sugar bowl” of India. “Five years ago, my clinic only used to get one or two patients a month,” he says. “Now we’re doing 15 to 20 [obesity-related] surgeries in a month.”
The USA, Finland, UK, and various other countries have imposed a ‘sugar tax’ and ‘soda tax’ on beverages to discourage soda drinks containing plenty amount of sugar resulting in quick weight gain, which is so far found working. Mexico also introduced ‘soda tax’ to control obesity within the country and within a year, soda consumption in the country declined by 12%, according to a study whose findings were published in January in the British Medical Journal.
The nationwide implementation might bring some hurdles…
Although introducing junk food tax nationwide can reduce the consumption of fast food to a certain extent but may fail if not executed and followed properly in Indian cities. Here’s why,
- Monitoring proper tax collection from fast food stalls and small racks will be difficult as they come under the unorganized sector.
- Categorizing the tax according to the contents and ingredients present ‘junk food’ will stand as a challenge, as each item has a different level of nutrient value, fat and sugar content and just taxing ‘fast food’ seems vague.
- The ‘junk food tax’ will target the middle-class psyche and remind them that they paid ‘extra’ for eating junk food and will compel them to think about its harmful effects.
- This new tax focuses on the health of just urbanized sections of the society and negates the health of the poorer and rural sections. According to a report mentioned in The Hindu, BMI levels in rural areas have shot up and suggested an increase in obesity levels. Thus, taxing just the urban population wouldn’t be enough.
The onus lies with us.
Obesity is a challenge that should be taken seriously by our society as well.
In future obesity might turn into a global epidemic whose seeds are sowed today. By 2030 India might overtake USA with the second-highest number of obese children, according to a report in health issue India website.
As the options in the fast-food menu are expanding so are its related ailments. According to a study, 10% of Indian youth aged between (10–19) are prediabetic and have high chances of suffering from diabetes in the future.
We should start looking into our diet and make fitness a priority. Educate kids beyond books in schools and make them understand the concept of ‘healthy’ diet, encourage physical workout and teach them healthy lifestyle habits.
Youth today ‘pays’ to eat fast food and later, ‘pays’ to recompensate their diet in the gym.
Lol.
