Obesity
in… Denmark?
By Sarah Caccese
As obesity rates
skyrocket globally, it is virtually impossible to find a country that isn’t
fighting the struggle against the deadly fatty acids. With fast food chains
multiplying and many cultures veering into an age of technology, over salted
diets and inactive lifestyles lead to a deadly imbalance. It isn’t uncommon for
obesity rates within a country to hover within 10 to 30 percent of the entire
population, while anywhere from 40 to 70 percent are merely overweight (Rampell, 2010) . With such high
rates, healthy lifestyles completed with a balanced diet and regular exercise are
becoming further and further from the norm, as shorter life expectancies,
surpluses of diseases and immobility consume the population.
In countries such as
Denmark, government officials are beginning to take a stand against the
unhealthy lifestyles of citizens in a manner that receives a surplus of
benefits—an excise tax. While
Denmark is not nearly the “fattest” country, only containing an obesity rate around
9 percent in 2011, health officials fear of the deadly consequences of
consuming “high levels of fat, salt and sugar” (Bittman,
2011) .
Within Denmark’s mixed economy, government officials have developed, proposed, and
successfully passed an excise tax—a
tax upon a good making it more expensive for the consumer, hopefully forcing
the demand to decrease. According to
New York times, this “tax was approved in a vote that ran about 90 percent in
favor, and instituted at a rate of 16 Kroner (just under $3) per kilo, which
will mean a half-pound of butter will rise in cost by about 15 cents” (Bittman,
2011) .
Similar to saturated fats, the country also enforces an excise tax on other elastic goods—goods that will decrease
in demand as the price increases—such as “tobacco, sugar, [and] alcohol” (Bittman, 2011) .
In theory this excise
tax will provide two main benefits for Denmark—a healthier population and an
increase in revenue. Inevitably decreasing the saturated fat consumption will
help with the “prevention of lifestyle diseases” (Bittman, 2011) overall hoping to provide long term
benefits for all citizens. In addition, according to New York Times, for
citizens to“[see] the strategy as health-related rather than simply
income-generating will allow [the] government to both increase its rate and expand
it to more unhealthy foods” (Bittman, 2011) . In other words, government officials
could expand the excise tax upon more unhealthy goods—goods high in sugar and
salt—in order to decrease the supply
and use the surplus of money to provide subsidies—money
from the government towards a specific good—for healthier alternatives, in order to increase
the supply of healthy options for the Danish population.
Although it may seem
this excise tax could only aid in decreasing the obesity rate within the
country, ultimately the plan has a few downsides. While Denmark enforces this
excise tax, that doesn’t necessarily mean the neighboring countries do. Because
Denmark is so small, it is very easy for someone to cross the border in order
to fulfill their saturated fat fix. In addition, some of Denmark’s goods are
imported causing their contents to not be specifically labeled or documented at
a reliable level.
Overall, through an excise tax
upon foods containing saturated fats, Denmark works to decrease their obesity
rate. For an exclusive interview on the issue with a Danish news reporter click
the link: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=141014592&m=141014496
Works
Cited
Bittman,
M. (2011, October 4). How About a Little Danish? New York Times.<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/how-about-a-little-danish/?_php=true&_type=blogs&action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry590%23%2FHow+About+a+Little+Danish%3F&_r=0>
Rampell, C.
(2010, September 23). The World is Fat. New York Times.<http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/the-world-is-fat/?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DOpinion%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3DBlogs%23%2FThe+World+is+Fat>
Obesity is such a problem in America so I like that you wrote about this topic. I completely understand why Denmark would put an excise tax on more fatty foods. This would make people want to buy less of that and substitute healthier foods for it instead. This being said, it makes me wonder why America is the opposite. I know that we tried to do that with soda but I am not so sure that it is working. I remember watching this video once that said that healthier food is way more expensive, making it harder for the less fortunate to buy it. I really liked how you pointed out that there are other ways to get the fatty foods. I think the only true way for this to work is for everyone to put an excise tax on fatty foods. This way the entire world would decrease their demand for it, hopefully resulting in a healthier population. I think this would in turn be better for the economy because we could spend our money elsewhere instead of spending it on non nutritional foods. Great Job Sarah!
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting to read because I thought only the U.S. was the country known for it's obesity. With your essay I also learned a new vocab word and that is excise tax. Thanks! :) It is interesting to know that the government is trying to increase the price in fatty goods to decrease the demand. How did that affect the economy? I'm curious in why the government didn't just promote more exercise?
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting to read about that other countries are fighting against obesity too. I thought that it was only America that was having these problems. However, i think that is smart of the government to be putting an excise tax on fatty foods so that people will choose healthier foods as a substitute. I am also interested in why the government has not tried that with America yet and how our fatty foods are cheaper than some of our healthier foods. If there was a restaurant that was "fast food" but sold healthy salad or nutritional foods not full of fat, that so many people would resort to that. Because its fast and healthy. So many people resort to fast foods for the exact reason that it is fast.
ReplyDeleteMexico and America is leading in Obesity and I understand why, however with a place like Denmark not far behind being across the ocean and almost being there with us is just incredible. I like how they try to raise the prices of fatty food however they've been doing that to healthy food for a while and it doesn't really help anyone then.. I wish they started to do that more in America to with trying to eat healthy more. I really like the topic you chose, did a great job explaining it and using world wide effects.
ReplyDeleteIt's very unsettling to think that obesity and bad habits that Americans have been exploring for a long time are migrating to other countries that were deemed as "healthy" prior. My freshman year, there was a foreign exchange student here from Denmark who would later become one of my best friends. She was blown away by the American culture and food, and quickly became accustomed to taco bell, bdubs, etc. I think its smart for Denmark to attempt to stop this epidemic before it gets out of hand, however, I don't know if putting an excise on certain 'unhealthy' products will do much. I am glad to see that Denmark is taking this problem seriously and trying to prevent what has happened in the US, Mexico, and other unhealthy countries.
ReplyDeleteI think its great that Denmark is putting this tax on unhealthy products. We don't need the whole world to be obese. Although it is a problem that they can just go to neighboring countries. Once you've got the taste for fatty and unhealthy foods you just can't stay away. I think that this might start a little bit of a change in obesity in Denmark and I think that other obese countries need to try this out too to help everyone lose weight or even just eat healthier. It's a start to end this obesity epidemic.
ReplyDeleteI found it rather interesting that a country with such low obesity rates compared to all of the others is actually starting to take a stand in this unhealthy living. I am curious as to what made them do this, is it from looking at all the other countries and seeing how we live or was it more of a public concern? I do agree with you that in order for us humans to help further our life we are going to need to eat A LOT healthier and add at least 30 minute so exercise daily. If people were to exercise for just 30 minutes a day and not eat McDonald's everyday for breakfast lunch and dinner our lives would be a lot better. I'm not sure adding an excise tax is the best way to regulate weight but I am curious to see how this excise tax works.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it started out being the United States who was known for immense obesity - but that's interesting. In some regards I don't understand why the government is trying to increase the price in fatty goods to decrease the demand. As much as I agree that having a fat nation and unhealthy lifestyles is not good, the supply for healthy (organic type) foods is much lower making unhealthy food more cost efficient. I think it would be smart to have an even balance. Promote exercise and food that is healthy but economically efficient.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting topic – I had always thought that obesity was a serious problem in America, but I had never thought of it in terms of another country. While an excise tax seems like a great way to reducing the quantity demanded for unhealthy products by increasing the price for each good, some people might oppose this tax because they believe it is an infringement upon their personal freedom. People who are not obese would suffer from this excise tax, so the increase in prices of foods that they don’t eat all the time would be a negative externality for them because the government did not impose the regulation to affect healthy people. Even though Denmark has a mixed economy, I think the excise tax moves it a little closer to a centrally planned economy because it puts more power in the hands of the government. Great idea!
ReplyDelete