Fat Tax: Will your burger be taxed like cigarettes?

A ‘fat tax’ on unhealthy foods, restrictions on junk food advertising and better labelling are the most cost-effective ways to cut obesity, a study suggests.

The study by experts at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), suggests treating foods high in fat, salt and sugar in the same way as tobacco, where advertising is restricted and price has been pushed up to discourage use, the Daily Mail reported.

But the food industry claims the tax idea smacks of the ‘Nanny State’. The research, published in The Lancet medical journal, looked at how to tackle obesity and related ill-health in seven countries – England, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa.

Researchers found that a combined approach of taxing unhealthy foods, subsidising healthy options, restricting food advertising and improving labelling was cheaper than simply treating those who develop heart disease or cancer as a result of an unhealthy diet.

Other interventions such as counselling of the public by GPs were also found to be effective.

But the researchers found that targeting children in the classroom was likely to take at least 50 years to deliver positive results.

The authors said: "A multiple-intervention strategy would achieve substantially larger health gains than individual interventions, often with a more favourable cost-effectiveness profile."

They said the strategy would pay for itself in about half the countries examined by reducing the cost to health services, and in other countries, it would become cost effective after a maximum of 15 years.

"This analysis clearly shows that the strategic approaches that deliver best value for money are improved awareness and information, appropriate fiscal measures and enhanced regulatory mechanisms," the authors added.

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