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NickWelch
Mrs.Rohlfs
English10
18December2014
TheObesityBattle
TheobesityrateintheUnitedStatesisatanalltimehigh.Junkfoodisamajor
contributortoobesity,aswellastomanyotherhealthriskssuchasdiabetesandheartdisease,
whichareoftenrelatedtobeingobese.Ataxonjunkfoodcouldpossiblydiscouragepeople
frombuyingjunkfoodandthusleadtoareducednumberofpeoplethatareobese,havediabetes,
orheartdisease.ThereisagrowingnumberofpeopleintheU.S.thatareconsideredobese,and
somethingshouldbedonetohelppreventthisoutbreakfromincreasing.
StatesintheU.S.
shouldimplementataxonjunkfoodtocombatthenation'sgrowingobesityepidemicandreduce
thehealthrisksthatareassociatedwithobesity.
Ournationspopulationisobesebecauseofthefoodsanddrinksthatareconsumedsuch
asjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinks.Junkfoodisoneof,ifnot,thebiggestcontributorto
obesity.AccordingtoMelissaHealy,awriterforthe
LosAngelesTimes
,
Inoneofthestudies,involving641normalweightchildrenbetweentheagesof5
and12,thosewhodrank8ouncesofasugarsweetenedbeverageseachdayfor18
monthsgainedmorethan2poundsofadditionalweightandaccumulatedmorefat
thantheirpeerswhodrankartificiallysweeteneddrinksdaily.(Healy)
Inthisstudy,itshowsthatpeoplewhocontinuouslyeatordrinkjunkfoodlikesugarsweetened
drinkswillgainweight.Ifpeopleconsistentlydrinksugarsweeteneddrinksoreatexcessive

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amountsofjunkfood,theyaremorelikelytobecomeobese.Researchfromthestudyabove
provesthatjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinkscauseweightgain,whichthencanleadto
obesity.
Toshowwhatwouldhappenifsugarsweeteneddrinkswereremovedfromapersons
dietresearchersconductedanotherstudy.AsexplainedbyHealy,
Intheotherstudy,involving224ninthand10thgraderswhowereoverweightor
obese,thosewhoweresuppliedwithdietdrinksandwaterforoneyearweremore
than4poundslighteronaverageandroughlyhalfapointloweronthebody
massindexscalethantheirpeerswhocontinuedtodrinksugarybeverages.
Whenthoseteenswereallowedtoreverttooldhabits,thedifferencesbetweenthe
groupsdisappearedwithinayear(Healy).
Resultsfromthisstudycreatemoreevidencethatjunkfoodlikesugarsweeteneddrinksleadto
weightgain.Inthelastfourdecades,theobesityepidemichasbecomesubstantiallyworsewitha
neartriplingobesityratebecauseofasteadyconsumptionofsugarsweeteneddrinks.Healyalso
statesthat,
Morethan12.5millionAmericankidsand78millionadultsareobese.
Itismore
thanapparentthatjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinksarethereasonthatpeoplearebecoming
obese.Itistimeforsomethingtobedonetosloworevenreversetheincreasingobesityrate.
WithagrowingnumberofpeoplethatareobeseintheU.S.,ifstateswouldimplementa
taxonjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinks,itwouldbeagreatwaytoachieveslowingor
reversingtheobesityrate.PeterWhoriskeyofthe
WashingtonPost
says,
Raisingthepriceofa
calorieforhomeconsumptionby10percentmightlowerthepercentageofbodyfatinyouths
about8or9percent,accordingtonewresearchfromtheNationalBureauofEconomic

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Research(Whoriskey).
Sincestudieshavealreadyproventhatjunkfoodandsugarsweetened
drinksareadirectcauseofobesity,placingataxonjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinkswould
makeunhealthyfoodsanddrinksmoreexpensive,thusmakingthemlessappealingtoobese
people.Theresultmightbeareductioninthetheamountofunhealthyfoodsobesepeople
consume,leadingtoadeclineintheobesityrateintheU.S.Infact,
ResearchersatHarvard
Universitysaysoftdrinksarea"majordriver"ofobesityintheUnitedStates,andthatraisingthe
priceofacanofsodabyaboutathirdcouldcutconsumptionbyasmuchas26%(Lazarus)
.As
obesitycontinuestosweepthenation,researchhasvalidatedthatifstatesintheU.S.established
ataxonjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinks,obesityrateswouldbeonthedownfall.
IntheUnitedStatestherearetaxesonitemssuchastobaccoandcigaretteswhichare
consideredhealthrisks.Justlikesmokingcigarettescancausepeopletogetdiseasesand
differenttypesofcancer,obesitycancausedangeroushealthrisksaswell,includingdiabetesand
heartdisease.
IntheU.S.thereiscurrentlyataxonthepurchaseofcigarettesinordertodecrease
anddiscouragepeoplefromsmoking,yetwedonothaveataxonjunkfoodasanattemptto
decreaseanddiscouragepeoplefrombecomingobese(Lazarus).
Junkfood,sugarsweetened
drinks,tobaccoandcigarettesareallsimilarbecausetheycancauseserioushealthissuesthatput
thepublic'shealthatrisk.StatesthroughouttheU.S.havevotedforataxontobaccobecause
researchhasshownthattobaccoandcigarettesaredangerousandtheycancausevarioustypesof
cancers.
Therateofadultswhosmokepeakedat45%in1954,accordingtoGallup.Itremained
around40%throughtheearly1970sandthenstarteddroppingasawarenessaboutthedangersof
nicotinegrew,andasstateandfederalofficialsenactedantismokingprograms(Lazarus)
.Since
tobaccohasatax,asimilartaxshouldbeputonjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinksbecause

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researchprovesthatpeoplewithadietthatincludesjunkfoodand/orsugarsweeteneddrinksare
morelikelytobecomeobese.
Notonlycanjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinkscausepeopletobecomeobese,they
canalsocausepeopletoformdangerousdiseasessuchasdiabetesandheartdisease.Diabetesis
aseriousdiseaseinwhichthebodycannotproperlycontroltheamountofsugarintheblood
becauseitdoesnothaveenoughinsulin.AccordingtoDiabeticCareServices,
Being
overweightplacesextrastressonyourbodyinavarietyofways,includingyourbodysabilityto
maintainproperbloodglucoselevels.Infact,beingoverweightcancauseyourbodytobecome
resistanttoinsulin(DiabeticCareServices).
Ifyouareobeseandyourbodybecomesresistant
toinsulinyoumighthaveahighriskofbecomingveryillorevendeath.Peoplewhoare
overweighttendtohaveadietinhighsaturatedandtransfatsuchasfriedfoodorfoodfroma
fastfoodchainrestaurant.Whenthefoodthathashighsaturatedandtransfatisconsumedit
increasesbloodcholesterollevelsandincreasesrisksforheartrelateddiseases.Nutrition
scientistLeahCahill,anexpertfromHarvardSchoolofPublicHealth,explainshowfriedfood
relatestodiabetesandheartdisease,
Cookingoiltendstobreakdownduringthefryingprocessachemical
transformationthatchangestheoilsfattyacidcomposition.Foodssimmeringin
thatdegradedoilabsorbfattyacidsandotherunhealthycompounds.Thatsa
problem,becausethoseacidsandcompoundscontributetoballooningwaistlines,
unhealthycholesterolandbloodpressurechanges,andhigherlevelsofoxidative
stressallofwhichcouldexplainthelinksbetweenfriedfoodconsumptionand
higherratesofType2diabetesandheartdisease(qtdinHeid).

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HeartDiseasereferstovariousdefectsthatinvolvetheheart,includingwhenbloodvessels
becomenarroworblocked.Itcanalsorefertowhentheheartsmuscle,valves,orrhythmare
affected.DemandMediahasanarticleproducedbyEhowthatreports,
Anobesepersonhas
morebodyfat,whichmeansmorefattymolecules(suchascholesterol)areinhisbloodvessels.
Thesefatsconstrictthebloodvessels,whichmeansthattheheartexperiencesdifficultyin
pushingbloodthroughthevessels(Ehow).
Thearticleexplainshowobesitycancausestrain
andotherproblemstotheheart.Heartdiseaseanddiabetesarejustsomeofthehealthrisksthat
comewithbeingobese,andiftherewasataxonjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinksitwould
notjustcombattheproblemofobesity,itwouldalsodecreasetheamountofpeoplethathave
diabetesandheartdisease.
Opponentsofhavingataxonjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinksclaimthatit
punishesthosewhoeatjunkfoodinmoderationandthatitisnotthegovernment'sbusinesswhat
peopleeatordonoteat.JudithScherroftheGlobalInformationNetworkmentionsthat,
The
AmericanBeverageAssociation,representingthe141billiondollarnonalcoholicdrink
industry,saysthetaxwouldhurtthepoorbyinflatinggrocerybills,andarguesthatthechoiceto
drinksugarybeveragesshouldbemadebytheindividual,notthegovernment(Scherr).
Taxing
junkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinkswouldnothurtthepoorbyinflatinggrocerybillsbecause
thetaxwouldincreasethepriceofjunkfoodandmightcausethesocalledpoorpeopleto
considerotherfoodchoicesthatmaybehealthierandlessexpensive.Also,theABAclaimsthat
thechoicetodrinksugarybeveragesshouldbeuptothepeopleandnotthegovernment,butthe
governmentcannotjuststandbackandwatchastheobesityrateintheU.S.continuesto
skyrocketandthepopulationcontinuestobecomemoreandmoreoverweight.Thegovernment

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hasbeenreluctanttobecomeinvolvedinfoodanddrinkconsumptionintheU.S.longenough
andtheresultisanoverweightnation.Despitewhattheopponentsofthetaxclaim,theoutbreak
ofobesityhasgoneonforlongenoughandnowitistimeforthegovernmenttostepinandhelp
resolvethewidespreadissueofobesityintheU.S.forbothchildrenandadults.
ThequandaryofobesityintheU.Sishuge.Illnessessuchasdiabetesandheartdisease
arejustsomeofthemanydangerouseffectsofobesity.Ataxinvolvinganincreaseintheprice
ofjunkfoodandsugarsweeteneddrinksshouldbepresentinallfiftystatesoftheU.S.inorder
todecreasetheconsumptionoffoodthatfallsunderthecategoriesofjunkfoodand
sugarsweeteneddrinks.EveryonewouldbenefitfromsuchataxbecausetheU.S.wouldbe
healthierasanation.IfeachstateintheU.S.successfullyvotedforataxtherewouldbealong
lastingandimmediatedecreaseintheobesepopulation.Obesitydoesnothavetobeaproblemin
theU.S.andwithataxonjunkfood,itwillnotbe.

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WorksCited
EHow."HowDoesObesityCauseHeartDisease?"
EHow
.DemandMedia,24May2009.Web.
17Dec.2014.
Healy,Melissa."ExpandingonSoda'sRoleinGrowingObesity."
LosAngelesTimes
.22Sep.
2012:A.1.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.25Nov.2014.
Heid,Markham."FriedFoodLinkedtoDiabetesandHeartDisease."
TimeMagazine
.Time,n.d.
Web.
Lazarus,David."JunkFoodShouldBeTreatedLikeTobacco."
LosAngelesTimes
.29Jun.
2010:B.1.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.24Nov.2014.
Ray,Linda."HowDoesObesityHeartDisease."
Livestrong.com
.Livestrong,n.d.Web.
Services,DiabeticCare."ACodependentRelationship:Diabetes&Obesity."
Diabetes
andObesity:ExploretheRelationshipBetweenObesityandDiabetes
.DiabeticCare
Services,n.d.Web.17Dec.2014.
Scherr,Judith."CaliforniaCitiesGearUptoFight"BigSoda".
GlobalInformationNetwork
.02
Apr.2014:n.p.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.17Nov.2014.
Whoriskey,Peter."TaxingFoodCaloriesCouldHelpReduceObesity,StudyFinds."
WashingtonPost
.27Jun.2013:A.17.
SIRSIssuesResearcher.
Web.17Nov.2014.