The Government need to do something about obesity, whether they want to or not.
I can see three ideas that, put together, could lower the risk of the higher than already high obesity rate. These are educate, advertise and intervene.
Education could start with not only teaching the younger generation of our nation about healthy eating, but also educating the adults and parents of New Zealand on cooking cheap, healthy meals.
I’m 20 years of age and my parents made me cook a meal once a week from the age of 13 or so. At the time I sighed every week, but looking back I am very thankful, as it has given me an insight to what is good for you and what you should have in moderation.
Secondly, advertise. I’m not a marketing guru but advertising clearly works, it does for the fast food giants. Simple posters in stores would get people’s attention and possibly change their mind about grabbing those extra bags of potato chips just because there’s a 4 for $5 special.
Lastly, intervene. I know right wing voters will be against this but if you eat healthily then there should be no worries. I suggest a 10 per cent tax added to unhealthy foods. This could be determined by nutritionist or someone who knows a lot about what our bodies require.
The revenue off the tax could be put towards taking 7 per cent of the price of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables. The remaining revenue could go towards the the education and advertising.
The only people that wouldn’t benefit from this are the people who continue to eat unhealthy.
There are issues, such as people not making a change, and the ones which would be hit hardest would be the families on low incomes eating the unhealthy foods.
Is there a way to fix the eating lifestyles of these people? Probably not, as you can’t force people into certain eating habits, but standing back and not doing anything is not the answer!
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