In some countries, an increasing number of people are suffering from health problems as a result of eating too much fast food.It is, therefore, necessary for governments to impose a higher tax on this kind of food. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

Obesity is one of the most important problems in the modern world nowadays. While it is true that tackling

this

problem without the official authorities involved in

this

issue is of a great importance, raising taxes on the processed products is not necessary to solve the problem of bad eating habits. In my view, increasing the taxes on the fast food products is not only going to help fighting obesity, but

also

could trigger the rise in the popularity of

this

industry.

First

of all, growing taxes will, indeed, bring hike in prices in

this

sector. But it does not mean that the eating habits of the majority of the hamburger lovers would significantly change. While increased taxes will affect rise in the final prices for the customers, they will

also

contribute to the higher rate of inflation as

this

specific increase will drive up the prices for food in general.

Hence

, the ration of the junk-food cost in the customers' basket will remain unchanged in the relative terms.

For example

,

then

increase in prices for the most popular combos in MacDonald’s has triggered a symmetric increase in the CPI in the USA in 2006.

Secondly

, higher tax in any sector and a consequential rise in the general prices have very little effect on the eating habits of people. The 2001 survey of the WFO has shown incredible stickiness of the various eating habits across the world towards the cuisine people get accustomed to. In general, people continued to consume something they used to regardless the cost. In conclusion, increasing tax junk products will have not only little effect on the growing rate of obesity, but could

also

trigger additional problems for the population.

Nevertheless

, the role of the government should not be under-estimated; the authorities should focus on finding other non-tax measures in order to find a solution to

this

evident problem.