Staying healthy - Fat tax in war against obesity

PEOPLE are more aware than ever before about managing and taking responsibility for their health and wellbeing.

Exercise, self-discipline and understanding what we eat are normal, daily parts of millions of lives.

Most, but not enough, people take a proactive part in trying to be healthy, physically, emotionally and mentally. A new awareness about the benefits or otherwise of certain foods has reshaped eating habits and, to a lesser but growing degree, food production.

Smoking, after decades of tobacco industry deceit, has become almost a cause for social exclusion. Tobacco companies are finding it harder and harder to replace dead nicotine addicts with new victims. Maybe this is why pop band Westlife found themselves at the centre of a row last week when it was suggested that part of their tour in Indonesia had been sponsored by a tobacco company. A huge proportion of Indonesian teenagers and children are addicted to cigarettes.

Despite the great sea change encouraged by legislation, far too many people still smoke and make themselves vulnerable to the lethal consequences of the habit. However, one of the lessons learnt in the fight against tobacco has, for the first time, been applied in another of the health wars.

Last Saturday, Denmark became the first country to impose a fat tax on foods. The Folketing has imposed a €2.15 levy per kilogram of saturated fat in a product. Butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food will be subject to the levy. The aim is to reduce the consumption of fatty foods.

Irish farmers and food processors will take little comfort in the almost inevitable counter-argument — some scientists have suggested that it would be better to target salt or sugar intake. If the Danish initiative is widely copied it is hard to see how it cannot eventually have an impact on two of the mainstays of Irish agriculture — milk and beef production.

A sharpening focus on the role excessive sugar consumption plays in obesity and diabetes may be just enough to push the mooted rejuvenation of the Irish sugar beet sector beyond the horizon. The Special Action Group on Obesity set up by Health Minister James Reilly is already considering a sugar tax to fight rising obesity levels. These measures recognise the need to confront unwise consumption at the root of so many health problems.

Just yesterday, the Diabetes Federation of Ireland warned that diabetes is reaching national crisis and that one third of families in Ireland have a relative suffering from the disease. On top of that, an estimated 30,000 people are living with undetected diabetes.

Last month, the World Health Organisation issued a warning about the levels of deaths in Ireland associated with diabetes and urged more be done to manage the disease. The WHO recorded that cardiovascular disease and diabetes account for almost 90% of deaths.

There is an inevitable momentum growing around measures to make unhealthy eating less attractive and more expensive. This might — rightly — discourage those who use too much fat and too much sugar but these moves will have economic and social consequences we should be aware of too.