Analysts blame cheap food for obesity across all groups
They called for policies that would address the need for people to replace calorie-dense foods with fruits and vegetables – not just add produce to what they already eat. But such policies have been tough to find. Taxes or subsidies on particular items might be a nudge, they said. There have been efforts at such taxes in the United States, but none has succeeded.
In California on Friday, a bill was passed by a Senate committee placing a warning on containers of sugary drinks, saying drinking them “contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.” The bill now goes to the full Senate.
“Although increasing fruit and vegetable consumption may be a laudable goal for other health reasons, it is unlikely to be an effective tool for obesity prevention," wrote Sturm and co-author Ruopeng An of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
In the 1930s, American spent about 25% of their disposable income on food; today it’s about 10%.
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