A new fat tax in Denmark generated an international media buzz in early October as television pundits, nutritionists and obesity experts debated the merits of a tax on unhealthy eating habits.
The Danes introduced the world’s first tax on fatty food earlier this month, which will increase the price of lard, sausages, pastries and other food high in saturated fats.
The tax on food that contains more than 2.3 percent saturated fat means Danish consumers will pay $2.90 per kilogram of saturated fat in a product.
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An American publication, the New American,estimated the tax would increase the price of cheese in Denmark by 50 cents per pound and a half pound of butter would rise by 45 cents.
A few European countries and other jurisdictions may follow Denmark’s lead, but Alberta is taking a less controversial and more holistic approach to weight gain.
In an effort to move beyond diet pills, fad diets and ad hoc public policy, last month the provincial government announced a five-year plan to help Albertans combat weight gain in a co-ordinated and comprehensive manner.
The Alberta Health Services Obesity Initiative will include more funding for bariatric surgery, school based programs to tackle rising rates of childhood obesity and new programs helping adults prevent future weight gain.
In a release touting the initiative, Alberta Health Services noted that obesity is linked to 22 chronic diseases, including 90 percent of Type 2 diabetes and 80 percent of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Arya Sharma, medical director of the obesity initiative and founder of the Canadian Obesity Network, said the Alberta approach moves beyond the usual platitudes and simplistic remedies for dropping pounds.
“I hear all too often we wouldn’t have an obesity problem if people would just eat less and move more,” said Sharma, chair of obesity research at the University of Alberta.
“It’s a position I consistently challenge because the patients I treat have far more complex challenges, ranging from physical and mental health co-morbidities to socio-economic barriers.
“Many patients simply do not have the capacity or support to alter their circumstances.”
Alberta’s initiative is timely because Community Foundations of Canada released a status report on Canadian obesity this fall.
In the report, Canada’s Vital Signs 2011, the organization noted that 18.1 percent of Canadian adults identify themselves as obese, an increase of 2.8 percent since 2003.
The statistical trend demonstrates that existing methods to fight obesity aren’t working, said Ian Bird, Community Foundations of Canada president.
“(There are) many initiatives and most of them are probably making a contribution, but they’re probably not aligned, matched, leveraged and co-ordinated, based on where communities are at,” he said. “So it appears this is the step that Alberta is taking.”
On his website, www.drsharma.ca, Sharma said obesity isn’t about food and exercise. Rather, it is an issue of time.
“We work more hours today than ever before… we have less time to buy and prepare healthy food … we have created a society in which we do not even have enough time to eat,” he said.
“Our parents and grandparents were paid to be physically active. Today you have to pay to be physically active…. For many of us, time is money.”
