"People have to stop exaggerating the numbers about childhood obesity - that's not to say that it is not an issue but you know, hysteria, fear campaigns and exaggeration are not very scientific," said Dr O'Dea, who is Associate Professor in Health Education and Nutrition.
Now that a few more legislators with common sense have been elected to office on the federal, state and local levels, it’s time to start repealing behavior modification taxes, aka ‘sin taxes,’ that seek to control the food and beverages lower income families consume. Australia’s NineMSN.com news reveals junk food taxes do nothing to relieve poverty or curb obesity:
Australia’s childhood obesity problem is an “exaggeration” and calls for a junk food tax will do little to relieve the poverty that is its major driver, an expert says.
The rate of childhood obesity among low income families was almost double that seen across middle and high income families, said Dr Jennifer O’Dea from the University of Sydney.
She said a tax on junk foods, as called for by a rising number of health experts, would only place extra financial strain on those families when a “social justice” approach was needed.
And while not downplaying the serious health problems that flow from a life of obesity, Dr O’Dea also said the scale of this problem for Australian children has become increasingly overblown.
“People have to stop exaggerating the numbers about childhood obesity – that’s not to say that it is not an issue but you know, hysteria, fear campaigns and exaggeration are not very scientific,” said Dr O’Dea, who is Associate Professor in Health Education and Nutrition.
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