A new study has revealed the cost of eating healthy continues
to rise, but price of high-calorie processed foods has dropped. With obesity on
the rise, on a worldwide scale, this is a situation that does not bode well for
the future. Now researchers in the UK are suggesting the British Government
introduce a special tax for junk food and use the proceeds to subsidise the
costs of fruit and vegetable production.
Data collected in the study, conducted by the Overseas Development Institute shows
cost of fruit and vegetables has soared over the last two or three decades, but
in the years between 1980 and 2012 the cost of ice cream has dropped by 50% and
ready meal prices have been slashed by 20%.
The UK is not the only culprit though. In China the costs of
vegetables have doubled in the last 20 years, in Brazil the prevalence of
sugary drinks and crisps and biscuits has been rendered more attractive by low
prices, and cabbage lovers in Korean are now paying around 60% more green for
their greens.
In Mexico nearly halt the adult population is obese, but
little wonder. The cost of fruit and vegetables has increased significantly since
1990, but the Mexican government has already taken a proactive stance in the
fight against obesity. In January 2014, a tax was introduced and applied to
high calorie food and drinks.
Obesity can shorten the average person's lifespan by around
nine years so the Mexican sugar tax could prolong lives, whether or not such a
tax will actually become a reality in the UK, remains to be seen.
