‘Fat tax’ in Hong Kong: necessary or not?

The term ‘fat tax’ maybe new to Hong Kong people, it refers to the taxation charged for food and beverages that are unhealthy or lead to increasing obesity(Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.), or obese individuals (Wang, 2008). Due to the increasing trend of the obesity of primary students, I believe the Hong Kong Government should introduce ‘fat tax’ in the city as to slow down the rapid increasing number of obese primary students, to be a more effective way of keeping Hong Kongers fit and to raise the awareness of health in Hong Kong.

Before explaining the reasons why I support the implementation of ‘fat tax’ in Hong Kong, I would like to categorize the term ‘fat tax’, also known as ‘obesity tax’ in other places. There are two types of fat tax, one is mainly targeting on food and beverage companies, charging for food and drinks related to increase level of obesity(Oxford Dictionaries, n.d.), and another one is focusing on the individuals in the society, charging for long waistlines(Wang, 2008). In a whole, both are aiming to improve the problem of obesity in one city or country.

To begin, the first reason of implementing the fat tax in Hong Kong is solve the rapid increase in number of obese primary students in our city. From the statistics of Centre of Health Protection, the obesity rates were 20.9 percent for primary students in Hong Kong in 2012(as cited in "Decrease in obesity," 2013) compared with 16.4 percent in 1997(as cited in Li, 2012). The rate has raised 4 percent during four years which is in a relatively fast pace for a small city. The reason why Japan can maintain a low obesity rate is the government started to implement the fat tax in 2008 (Onishi, 2008). The taxation is charged on the citizens who have waistlines over certain length. Despite its warning to the people, this policy requires a lot of man power and it can be time consuming to take record of the people’s waistlines. In my opinion, this policy can also apply on Hong Kong citizens since people will exercise more and eat healthy in order to avoid paying the tax, this gives Hong Kong people a financial motivation to keep fit and be healthier. Hong Kong Government can hire other research organizations to record the waistlines of Hong Kongers as to speed up the record-taking process. Thus, with the exercise-promoting campaign going on in Hong Kong, implementing the tax can slow down the obesity in long term in the city.

Another reason of introducing the obesity tax in Hong Kong is to be more effective than the methods using in the city now. Government has been promoting healthy lifestyle and exercise through television advertisements, posters and healthy meals in school campaign. With the purpose of increasing the effectiveness of keeping Hong Kong people fit, government can implement the second type of obesity tax which is to charge tax on the food and beverage companies for selling the food and drinks over certain amount of sugar, sodium or calories. The method is targeting on the food companies, encouraging companies to produce healthier food and obtain a healthy eating habit.

However, like every policy, it has its downside, that is the price of the products may increase when the companies are charged for tax, transferring the financial burden from the companies to the customers. Denmark has implemented the first fat tax in the world to the food with more than 2.3 percent saturated fat in 2011 ("Denmark introduces world's," 2011). A year later, the tax was cancelled by the country due to high cost in both government and industry, and the result is not satisfactory as the eating habit of Danes has not been changed or improved

("Denmark to abolish," 2013). Although this policy failed in Denmark, that does not mean the policy will also fail in Hong Kong. A scientific research in United States showed a positive result of taxation in pizza and soda (Duffey, Gordon-Larsen, Shikany, Guikley, Jacobs & Popkin). The research was done by 5,115 eighteen to thirty year-old adults between 1985 and 2006. The result of the research stated “policies aimed at altering the price of soda or away-from-home pizza may be effective mechanisms to steer US adults toward a more healthful diet and help reduce long-term weight gain or insulin levels over time.(ibid)” The point of showing this research is to prove that if the tax is charged on the right food and drinks that Hong Kong people usually consume, the tax should have a chance to successfully change the eating habit of the citizens. Not to mention the recent implementation of fat tax in Mexico (Boseley, 2013), its government shows a firm stands on setting up taxes against junk food even though it may bring harm to the economy, because the future obesity rate will outweigh the potential decrease in the sales of food and drinks industry. Hong Kong Government should consider implementing fat tax in Hong Kong.

The last reason to introduce fat tax in Hong Kong is to raise the awareness of health in the city. There may be advertisements playing on television, posters sticking on the streets and healthy meals in schools or restaurants, but are these actions enough to make citizens realize the seriousness of obesity and the importance of health? My answer is no. In a survey conducted by the Department of Applied Social Sciences of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Family Health Service of The Department of Health, it interviewed parents of 0 to 4 years old children, only 9.7 percent of them worries their children are eating too much. The survey also showed 50 percent of the obese children’s parents think that the weight of their children is normal ("A survey of," 2012). These results reflect the parents do not know the situation of their children’s health can be damaged by obesity. By using taxation, parents will be more concerned on the health issue related to obesity since issues and matters get more attention when money is involved. In addition, the tax revenue received can be used for campaigns to promote health related issues, for instance organizing group exercising events to encourage citizens to do exercise regularly.

To summarize, implementing fat tax in Hong Kong can slow down the rapid increase of obese primary students in the city in long run. Additionally, this policy is more effective on keeping hogn Kong people fit than the way using now and the public will be more aware to obesity when the tax is implemented. Thus, I urge the Hong Kong Government to introduce the fat tax to the city as soon as possible.

Bibliography

1.          Fat tax. (n.d.) In Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionaries). Retrieved 4th Nov, 2013, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fat-tax.

2.          Wang, S. S. (2008, June 13). Retrieved 6th Nov, 2013, from http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/06/13/another-thing-big-in-japan-measuring-waistlines/.

3.          Decrease in obesity in Hong Kong for three years(港肥胖人口3年下跌). (2013, March 18). Ming Pao. Retrieved 4th Noc, 2013 from http://happypama.mingpao.com/cfm/parenting3.cfm?File=20130318/newa/gha3.txt.

4.          Li, S. (2012, December). Childhood overweight and obesity. Bridge. Retrieved from http://www.studenthealth.gov.hk/english/newsletters/newsletter_57.html.

5.          Onishi, N. (2008, June 13). Japan, seeking trim waists, measures millions . The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html?_r=0

6.          Denmark introduces world's first food fat tax. (2011, October 1). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15137948

7.          Denmark to abolish tax on high-fat foods . (2013, November 10). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20280863

8.          Duffey, K. J., Gordon-Larsen, P., Shikany, J. M., Guikley, D., Jacobs, D. R., & Popkin, B. M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=774511

9.          Boseley, S. (2013, November 1). Mexico to tackle obesity with taxes on junk food and sugary drinks. The Gurdian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/01/mexico-obesity-taxes-junk-food-sugary-drinks-exercise

10.      The Department of Health , Family Health Service. (2012). A survey of infant and young child feeding in hong kong : Parental perceptions and practices. Retrieved from website: http://www.fhs.gov.hk/english/archive/files/reports/Survey_IYCF_parents perception.pdf