Sugar Tax

Great idea tax drinks with sugar, and replace with tax free drinks with Aspartame the supposedly cancer causing chemical

Way to go, the kids will not be fat just dead

Jack McH

 

It's a tricky one. Sugar is on a par with baccy and alcohol. In moderation, it is no way as dangerous as some would suggest, but it is addictive and is very damaging in excessive doses.

There is all the talk of obesity and rotten teeth, but less talked about is the way it binds with fat and oxygen within the blood, and turns into an almost plastic substance that sticks to artery walls, surrounds vital organs, and generally does unpleasant things.

In that sense, it seems to me that either sugar should be taxed, or baccy and alcohol should not.

But there's always a flip side. As you say @Jack McHammocklashing , all that will happen is aspartame use will fill the gap, and according to some studies, that's even worse.

The trouble is, the government is the last organisation we should listen to for health advice. I meticulously followed official nhs advice for diet for a while, and very nearly dropped dead as a result. Not through starvation, but through a massive imbalance in nutrients.

 

The problem this side of the pond is diabetes brought on by sugar junkies who are possibly obese as well.

soda pop drinks here are taxed. Sugar, aspartame whatever. I NEED my sprite zero, lemon/lime soda with aspartame. How else could I make my wine spritzers

 

Here's a thought, though going off at a bit of a tangent, and slightly tongue in cheek. THE major problem facing the world at present is population growth. So if we do nowt to limit early deaths due to obesity it might be a good thing.

 

Had a fat guy fall on me while trying to negotiate a Tbar at the ski hill. Yes, obesity can kill you..

oh well, my screams were muffled and did not cause anyone undue stress

 

Totally outrageous idea, a 20% tax on sugar would put up the cost of my homebrew by 1p per bottle!



(1Kg/gall @ 3Kg for £1 at B&M)

 

I'm just glad I'm not having to fight the rear guard action as I used to when my children were growing up. It is extremely difficult and you are branded the worst parent in the world when your little darlings packed lunches includes Carrots and Apples while spoilt brat has 3 Mars Bars. Trying to get your children to eat properly is hard work and so many parents just can't be bothered saying no when little Johnny demands some god awful sweets/sugary drinks etc. I've been told that if you are fat as a child it makes it that much more difficult to control your weight when you are older because you acquire "fat sacks". This maybe entirely wrong?
My children remember the battles over eating their vegetables and only getting sweets occasionally. None of them nowadays, are remotely overweight and are healthy. They say they are glad now, with the accent on the now! I didn't just go with the flow and let them eat junk food most of the time. 1 (aged 31!) still bares a grudge tho that I refused to buy them "Turkey Twizzlers" whatever the he.. they are!
Despite the big hype of the legacy of the Olympics I have read that children are now playing less sport than they were before The Games were held in the UK. How many calories do you need when all you do in your spare time is exercise your eyes and thumbs playing computer games?, a couple of cans of Coke and a Macdonald's should do the job!
About 2 weeks ago I drove past a large group of children from my Daughter's old school who were on their way to the chippy/sweet shop/pub!? at lunch time. I was horrified at just how many of them were FAT (no other polite word for it). What surprised me the most was it wasn't just girls who are more prone to being overweight IMO, many boys were waddling down the road too. Perhaps they have all got gland problems! It's 10 years since my youngest left school, I asked her how many really fat children were at her school when she was there. She reckoned maybe 3 to 5 %. If the group I saw were an accurate sample then I'd say the % has gone up to around 25%, a real problem brewing for our future generations.
Gone are the days of no choice school lunches, no going to the shops or even packed lunches.It's a miracle I and many like me survived without getting rickets as most school lunches in my day were legendary for all the wrong reasons. I still have nightmares over the revolting lumpy Tapioca with obligatory blob of jam hurled in it which we nicknamed the blood clot....Do I think the tax will make any difference? no. I've no idea what the right thing to do is. Education is probably the right answer but it's parents that buy the food and would they be prepared to change their ways/eating habits to set an example to their children? a few maybe.

 

While I agree with you Silu regarding the need for children to become more active, there is little motivation for them to do so. I think we have put too much pressure on kids willing to get out and play, to become super athletes as well.

Let's face it, big sports is now just big business. The average person would never get as far as the Olympics and let's face it, most of those amateur athletes really do get paid - they don't come out the back end with nothing. And it is sad that a lot of the athletes resort to drugs to get the short term big money.

Some local sports programs cost thousands to enroll a child. Just the uniforms/equipment can costs parents hundreds.

I wish the schools would go back to having mandatory physical education/excercise classes at least three times a week.

 

This has been tried before in Europe . France I think it was.... It never worked . After a very short time people just bought at the increased prices .

My issue is simple. I don't drink alcohol at all. When folk pop round for a meal and a drink or when we go out I have a glass of Coke..

Why should I pay more . In a pub or restaurant I pay more for my Coke than a glass of beer. Now they want to increase it even more.

I don't drink gallons of the stuff and am not fat.

The thing is what next ?

 

Coke is worse for you than beer. It is nasty stuff. I buy it occasionally. It is brilliant for cleaning small metal objects. I've used it for wife's engagement ring a few times, as well as small engine parts. No effort needed. Just pour coke into plastic container, add gunked up metal objects to be cleaned, leave overnight, remove shiny metal objects in morning.

Seeing what it can do to caked in grime, sometimes even baked on oil and muck from inside an engine bay, I'd be reluctant to let it sit in my soft squishy insides.