Pro-tax: Last resort

40 percent of early deaths are a result of behavior choices.

Many of these early deaths can be attributed to obesity. Along with obesity comes many health problems such as diabetes, and obesity and diabetes are the only major health problems in the country that are worsening very quickly. Health Affairs has deemed heath costs from obesity extremely expensive, and costs are increasing more and more each year.

There are many contributors to obesity. People have easy access to fast and fatty foods that lack many essential nutrients. Many do not take the time to exercise, and most people travel by car as opposed to walking or biking as most did decades ago. For these, and many other reasons, obesity rates continue to rise in the U.S.

This information tells us this: we cannot leave it to individuals to initiate good health habits in their lives.

Some have called the fat tax America's last resort. Individuals lack either the motivation, or in some cases, the means to eat well. Maybe it is about time the government took over in some aspects of life...

The link feature's not working.... here are the sites I got my info from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/magazine/16FOB-wwln-t.html?_r=2
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204563304574314794089897258.html