The number of humans who are susceptible to serious health issues as a result of being obese is rising. Why is this ugly trend on this rise and how can it be curtailed? This essay will discuss both questions in detail.
The major cause of obesity today is the availability of cheap fast foods. Unlike in the past, convenience meals were reserved for the elites. These days they can be seen at every major road offering discounted meal combos which have been found to contain high cholesterol and oil. The resultant effect is that consumption levels of these products have increased leaving people with excess calories the body converts into fat. For example, a research conducted by the Food Health Council of Nigeria in 2018 revealed that those at a risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases exclusively ate fast food.
A workable solution to this menace is to increase taxes on quick meals. The law of demand states that an increase in price lowers demand for a product and as such people will either reduce consumption or stop totally. In the United Arab Emirates for instance, the government increased value added tax on ready made food by over 200%, this lead to a decline in overweight individuals because many people could not afford it. If the fat content of processed and unprocessed food is also regulated by government, there would be fewer cases of obesity.
To sum up, an unhealthy society is a time bomb that would affect the labour force and government spendings on health. There is need to control the rise in obesity in the country by regulating food make up and introducing premium taxes on it.
The number of humans who are susceptible to serious health issues
as a result
of being obese is rising. Why is this ugly trend on this rise and how can it
be curtailed
? This essay will discuss both questions in detail.
The major cause of obesity
today
is the availability of
cheap
fast
foods
. Unlike in the past, convenience meals
were reserved
for the elites. These days they can be
seen
at every major road offering discounted meal combos which have
been found
to contain high cholesterol and oil. The resultant effect is that consumption levels of these products have increased leaving
people
with excess calories the body converts into
fat
.
For example
,
a research
conducted by the
Food
Health Council of Nigeria in 2018 revealed that those at a
risk
of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases exclusively ate
fast
food.
A
workable
solution to this menace is to increase taxes on quick meals. The law of demand states that an increase in price lowers demand for a product and as such
people
will either
reduce
consumption or
stop
totally
. In the United Arab Emirates
for instance
, the
government
increased value
added
tax on
ready made
food
by over 200%, this lead to a decline in overweight individuals
because
many
people
could not afford it. If the
fat
content of processed and unprocessed
food
is
also
regulated by
government
, there would be fewer cases of obesity.
To sum up, an unhealthy society is a time bomb that would affect the
labour
force and
government
spendings on
health. There
is need
to control the rise in obesity in the country by regulating
food
make
up and introducing premium taxes on it.