No flab tab, says Delhi

Delhi laughs away the idea of imposing a tax on ‘fat’ people. However, fat-tax may subtly send the message that fitness is not an option, but a need.

“Ridiculous” is what Delhiites have called a new WHO proposal to tax overweight people in seven countries, including India. The logic, as published in a research report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in The Lancet last week — that fat people occupy more room in flights, and that taxing them is the best way to deal with obesity — does not cut much ice with the parantha happy population of the Capital. A survey by travel website, TripAdvisor reveals that only 27% people in Delhi, which has an alarming 20% incidence of obesity, think imposing a fat-tax is a good idea.

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“How does charging a few fat people make any difference?” asks Kriti Gupta, a student of Jamia Millia Islamia University. “Why tax only fat people, and not drinkers or bad drivers?” argues Anusheel Bhan, a student of Amity University. “It’s an impractical idea. In India, we’re too sensitive about such things,” says Puneet Wadhwa, an engineering student. “I weigh 102 kgs, and that makes me conscious anyway. I’m trying to reduce, but a tax seems like a slap,” says a 24-year-old, requesting to not be named.

Some health experts, however, support the proposal. "A fat-tax may subtly send the message that fitness is not an option now, but a need," says nutritionist Ishi Khosla. But, desi flight service providers don’t seem gung-ho about the idea. "It’s ridiculous to single out some people like that," says a GoAir official, requesting anonymity.



In the West, however, Air France has started charging obese passengers 75% of the cost of a second seat, if they are too large to fit into just one. American carrier United Airlines has taken the same decision after receiving complaints from fliers. European airline Ryanair is also considering an excess weight fee, and German lawmakers have proposed that overweight citizens pay a heavier healthcare tax keeping in mind the extra medical services they use.

History of fat-tax
As early as 1942, soon after the attack on Pearl Harbour, US physiologist AJ Carlson suggested levying a fee on each pound of overweight, both to counter an “injurious luxury” and to make more food available for war efforts. The concept was reintroduced by Milton Merryweather and P Franklin Alexander in the late seventies, but pioneered and brought to prominence in the early 1980s by Kelly D Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. Brownell proposed that revenue from junk-food taxes be used to subsidise healthy foods and fund nutrition campaigns.

Source: Wikipedia