Changing the price of foods may significantly affect Americans' weight
March 18, 2009A new article published in The Milbank Quarterly explores how food prices can affect weight outcomes, revealing that pricing interventions can have a significant effect on obesity rates. This article is part of the March special issue, which includes eleven articles focusing on the topic of obesity.
Raising the prices of less healthy foods (e.g., fast foods and sugary products) and lowering the prices of healthier foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables) are associated with lower body weight and lesser likelihood of obesity. Children and adolescents, the poor, and those already at a higher weight are most responsive to these changes in prices.
Small taxes on unhealthy food items or small subsidies for healthy foods are not likely to produce substantial changes in BMI or obesity prevalence while nontrivial pricing interventions may have a measurable effect on Americans' weight outcomes.
"This review provides evidence about the potential effectiveness of using food pricing policies to affect weight outcomes, including the potential impact of excise and other taxes on less healthy products and of subsidies for more healthy products," the authors conclude.
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freethinking - Mar 18, 2009
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More taxes by the tax crazed leftist social engineers.- report abuse
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Ablee - Mar 19, 2009
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You are so right Freethinking as prices won't be lowered on foods like fruits, vegetables, fish or non-processed meats instead the price of garbage goes up and another tax is slapped on, just like the soon to be Global Carbon Tax.- report abuse
Feb 20, 2009 |
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Sep 07, 2009
