ND0930116

Title: Opinion: Taxes Won?t Reduce Obesity

Description: Professor Charles Baum?s research suggests that there is ?no one or two central causes of rising obesity.?

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PHILADELPHIA ? Charles L. Baum, a professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University, penned an op-ed in Philly.com suggesting that the notion that ?any class of food or beverage is particularly fattening? is an ?unfortunate myth,? and that the dynamics of obesity are far more complex than slapping a tax on soda.

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Baum?s comments come on the heels of a failed soda tax proposal offered by Mayor Nutter and comments by a city official that ?there's good evidence for sugary drinks' being a major culprit in the increase in obesity.? Also, public-health activists? claims that ?soft drinks contribute disproportionately to the government's obesity-related costs.?

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Baum conducted a study with Lehigh University's Shin-Yi Chou, which suggests that the ?dynamics of obesity are far more complex than the soda critics suggest.? Researchers analyzed factors such as food prices, physical activity at work, restaurant prevalence, urbanization, employment and cigarette smoking.

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The conclusion, Baum writes, is that there is ?no one or two central causes of rising obesity.?

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He notes that Philadelphia officials aren?t wrong to be concerned about obesity, but that his research suggests anti-obesity public policies ?are generally of limited utility.?

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Baum writes: ?Governments can of course plow forward with taxes, zoning, and other often untested ways of battling obesity. But public policy is an instrument that's too blunt for this task. There are simply too many factors and individual choices; after all, any food or drink with calories can fatten people if consumed in excess.

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?Instilling personal responsibility and expanding nutrition and fitness education are more likely to have an effect. People gain weight when they consume more calories than they burn. And many different lifestyle decisions can lead to weight gain, just as there are many different approaches to weight loss. Some people may have to eat less; others may have to run up and down the steps of the Art Museum.

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?No public-policy regimen can effectively target obesity unless it literally punishes people for being fat. And who wants to weigh in at the nearest post office???

Content Subject: Marketing/Merchandising

Formatted Article Date: September 30, 2011

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