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  • Essay / Fat Tax: A Tax for a Healthier America - 812

    Over the past 60 to 70 years, the fast food industry has been one of America's bittersweet phenomena . These are the foods people undeniably crave, served in minutes at a more than reasonable price, it almost seems too good to be true. With 60 million Americans served fast food every day, it's safe to say it's very enticing ("Fast Food Statistics," 2014). All these deliciousness aside, most rational individuals are aware of the underlying immoral results of frequent fast food consumption. Giving way to the cliché, perfect for fast food fans, “Everything is good in moderation”. With all the recent cuts and reforms against childhood obesity, currently one of the nation's largest epidemics, the idea of ​​increased taxes on fast food has become a hot topic. With sugary soft drinks already banned in public schools and multiple programs implemented to combat our country's childhood obesity problems, a tax on fasting seems like the next logical step toward solving this problem. Opponents believe it will have minimal effect and will be just another tax on the poor. That being said, the government would benefit from a substantial gain in tax revenue from this decision and a reduction in the consumption of high-fat foods among adolescents. There appears to be a cognitive reason to apply such a law. 44% of Americans eat fast food at least once a week. (“Fast Food Statistics,” 2014) and children ages 6 to 14 eat fast food 157 million times per month (Ransohoff Julia, 2013). Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates have more than tripled (Kalaidis Jen, 2013). Needless to say, whether it's once a year or 3 times a week, fast food is definitely a part of most Americans' diets. Acco...... middle of article ......ica.Works Cited "Fast Food Statistics." Brain Statistics RSS. Pew Research Center, January 1, 2014. Web. May 20, 2014. Kalaidis, Jen. “Should the United States pass a fat tax?” The week. Np, February 25, 2013. Web. May 20, 2014.Melnick, Meredith. "Fast food's biggest customer: Not the poor, but the middle class | TIME.com." Time. Time, November 7, 2011. Web. May 22, 2014. Messerli, Joe. “Should products that contribute to obesity (such as Big Macs and Krispy Kreme Donuts) be taxed? » BalancedPolitics.org - Fat Tax (pros and cons, arguments for and against, pros and cons). Np, August 11, 2011. Web. May 20, 2014.Pettinger, Tejvan. “Economic Essays: Fat Tax: Why We Should Tax Unhealthy Foods.” Economic aid. Np, July 14, 2007. Web. May 22, 2014. Ransohoff, Julia. “Fast food.” Doctors, patient care, health education, medical research. Np, October 2013. Web. May 20 2014.