Cable Forum - View Single Post - report calls for an experimental 20% tax on all sugary soft drinks

**Damien** · 18-02-2013, 18:17

Teach children how to cook in schools, slowly create a culture where cooking and longer meals are encouraged as opposed to ready meals and snacks. The French have soft drinks, desserts and cheeses which are really high in saturated fat, and McDonald's that'll serve a beer with your burger. The French do not have a problem with obesity.

I don't know all the reasons for this and I don't think anyone has got an exact answer but a lot of it must be to do with their healthier culture around food. They take more time over it, longer lunches, they'll sit down at a proper table for a proper meal more often than we'll do. They snack less inbetween meals because they are more filling and the taste of good food makes the appeal of snacks less appealing.

Teaching how to cook, reducing the desire of quick processed snacks, and spending more time over food would all help a lot.

Unless we do that then we are just going to have to find more rudimentary ways of curbing obesity and one of those ways is to use the tax system. Besides, we can put that money towards the NHS which will increasingly need it if obesity continues to increase.

18-02-2013, 18:17	#6
Damien Remoaner Cable Forum Mod Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 32,928	Re: report calls for an experimental 20% tax on all sugary soft drinks Teach children how to cook in schools, slowly create a culture where cooking and longer meals are encouraged as opposed to ready meals and snacks. The French have soft drinks, desserts and cheeses which are really high in saturated fat, and McDonald's that'll serve a beer with your burger. The French do not have a problem with obesity. I don't know all the reasons for this and I don't think anyone has got an exact answer but a lot of it must be to do with their healthier culture around food. They take more time over it, longer lunches, they'll sit down at a proper table for a proper meal more often than we'll do. They snack less inbetween meals because they are more filling and the taste of good food makes the appeal of snacks less appealing. Teaching how to cook, reducing the desire of quick processed snacks, and spending more time over food would all help a lot. Unless we do that then we are just going to have to find more rudimentary ways of curbing obesity and one of those ways is to use the tax system. Besides, we can put that money towards the NHS which will increasingly need it if obesity continues to increase.