According to a 2008 CDC study, 34 percent of American adults, and 17 percent of children and adolescents are classified as obese. Denmark, in comparison, only has an obesity rate of about 13.4 percent.
It should be surprising, then, to hear the country implementing the world’s first “fat tax” is Denmark. However, officials behind this “fat tax” claim it is not really meant to curb the obesity rates, but instead reverse the lagging Danish life expectancy.
At 78.6 years, it’s just a little longer than America’s 78.4, but is still behind other European countries such as France, Germany and Sweden, which are a few of the countries with life expectancies of more than 80 years.
This “fat tax,” which is now applied to all foods, is based on the amount of saturated fat which is involved with an item. A large culprit in obesity rates and cardiovascular disease, organizations around the world have suggested limiting saturated fat intake for some time now.
It looks like Denmark has finally decided to take a more active step than simply giving the Danish people suggestions.
This tax works by being applied to foods which contain more than 2.3 percent saturated fat. If they do, then the tax adds on 16 Danish Kroner per kilogram of saturated fat — which works out to be around $1.29 per pound. However, this is all using the amount of fat used to make the product, and not necessarily the amount of fat in the food itself.
Price changes in Denmark include an addition of 40 cents to a package of butter and 15 cents to a hamburger. While this may not seem like much, it may be enough of a barrier to stop people from purchasing these goods as readily.
Additionally, this tax joins many other “sin taxes” which are already in place in Denmark. Before this tax, Danes already had to pay a tax for sugary drinks and sweets such as candy and chocolate, as well as for cigarettes.
Together, all of these aim to help improve the Danish health, and eventually lead to a longer life span. Because it is believed to be the first of its kind, many countries — especially those in Europe who also have many of these “sin taxes” — are watching to see just how successful it is.
We should be trying to formulate something similar.
As I previously mentioned, nearly a third of American adults are obese. This is an unacceptable number, and while there have been attempts to reduce it, nothing drastic enough has been done.
Say we were to impose a tax on sugary drinks like Denmark. The Danish tax rate — which is the highest of the six European Union countries that have the tax — is 1.16 kroner per liter, around 20 cents. Again, while this may not be a massive increase, it may prevent some from choosing sugary treats over healthier, untaxed options.
To some people, it really isn’t hard to decide between fresh fruit and vegetables — which you have to cook for yourself — or simply going somewhere like McDonald’s or Taco Bell. Plus, the whole meal costs less than five dollars.
Thus, we need to make the choice more obvious. If we imposed taxes not only on saturated fats, but also sugary drinks or even goods high in sodium, there will undoubtedly be some changed diets.
For the good of the American people, our health care system and even our treasury, a sugary “sin tax” seems like the obvious choice.
 
Zachary Davis is a 20-year-old History Junior from Warsaw, Poland. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_zdavis.
 
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Contact Zachary Davis at [email protected]