Ebook Reducing Obesity: Policy Strategies From The Tobacco Wars

Policymakers widely acknowledge the role obesity plays in driving up health care costs. But the country’s ever?increasing obesity epidemic has other consequences as well, including reduced productivity and heightened morbidity and mortality.

This report asks whether the fight against obesity—which the country is badly losing would benefit from strategies that have dramatically reduced tobacco use during the past 45 years as well as new anti?tobacco strategies that have begun to show promise.

We begin by analyzing some of the consequences of obesity. We then explore how the country has dramatically reduced smoking since the mid?1960s and how federal policy is now changing with the goal of further cutting tobacco use. After noting some of the similarities and differences involving tobacco and fattening food, we conclude that, while many policy approaches are important in combating obesity—and this paper does not pretend to be exhaustive in cataloguing all promising anti?obesity initiatives—aggressive policy remedies like those used with tobacco deserve serious consideration, in view of the terrible and rising toll that obesity is taking on the United States.

Contents

,b>Executive Summary
Introduction
Obesity sickens, kills, and creates significant societal costs
Tobacco: What America is doing right
Can successful tobacco?control measures provide a model for fighting obesity?

Many obesity?causing foods provide some nutritional benefit
Exercise can offset overeating
Obesity needs to be prevented and reduced for adults as well as children
A changed environment for purchasing food can give the food industry incentives to develop and market healthier products

Combating obesity with public policy interventions patterned after anti?tobacco efforts
Excise or sales taxes on fattening food

Current taxes
Rationale for taxing fattening food
Policy design questions
Potential disadvantages
Approximate amounts of federal and state revenue

Clear and simple labels conveying the health risks of fattening foods
Labels on packaged foods
Labels on restaurant foodsing of fattening food

Conclusion
Appendix: Calculation of revenue estimates
National estimates
State estimates
About the Authors
About the Urban Institute and the Health Policy Center
About the WellPoint Foundation
References
Notes