New Bill That Will Tax the Fast Food Industry
More and more young teen kids are becoming heavier than ever before. Maryland has written a bill that will tax junk foods in order to fund organizations who are committed to help young teens and children overcome obesity. With the most obvious reason kids get fat is caused by overeating. Other things such as lack of exercise is something that needs to be addressed.
Other people such as republicans say childhood and teen obesity is a cause for concern, but says we don't have to tax more in order to fund these organizations. Jim McCarthy, who heads the Snack Food Association, mentioned a very important statement. He says the there are bad diets and also bad diets. Junk food and other fatty foods don't cause obesity. Overeating and eating large portion sizes are the main cause of obesity.
The bill written by democrats goes into detail of how we can tax certain foods like candy and ice cream. Items such as fruits and vegetables will not be taxed. The snack food industry has claimed that bureaucrats are not looking hard enough at what they are actually taxing. Some potato chips have a high grease amount but also has large quantities of potassium and vitamin C. Also, Michelle Obama has pushed Lets Move campaign designed to stop childhood obesity.
Wether you believe higher taxes will stop childhood obesity is not the major problem we face as parents. The main thing we can do as parents is to teach our families how to become healthy. Taking your kids to McDonalds once a week is not going to make your child fat. When a young child is taught at an early age to develop good eating habits they will most likely take the things the have learned into adulthood. Below are a list of things you can do to teach children about healthy eating choices.
- Serve children smaller portion sizes during meals.
- Cut up fruits and vegetables so they are easier to eat.
- Purchase fat free products such as low fat ranch and mayo.
- Take your child to the park following a meal rather than watching tv.