Aug 10, 2009

An editorial column in The Garner-News that says food is the new tobacco discusses CPC Fellow Barry Popkin‘s new book, “The World is Fat,” linking the addiction to tobacco to the addiction to fatty foods as they destroy our health in similar ways.

“Increasingly the high caloric liquids and food we consume are driving up our weight dramatically,” the article says. “Keeping a healthy weight is an individual challenge. The consequences of not meeting that challenge are clear: higher incidences of diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, and early death.”

According to the article, Popkin’s book says the government does have a role in our health and should act soon. Popkin suggests it should start with a tax on high calorie drinks such as soft drinks and juice, which have little nutritional value.

The column states that a tax on drinks would be just the start.

“For legislators looking for new revenue, the health argument provides the same kind of rationale that first led to a tax on cigarettes,” the article says.
  
The article and UNC news release can be found below:

http://www.garnernews.net/pages/full_story/push?article-The+new+tobacco%20&id=3040671-The+new+tobacco&instance=secondary_opinion_left_column

https://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/nutrans/publications/theworldisfat