Tax on sugar, obesity | Norwegians are too fat: a particular initiative involved in the debate

The subject of the new NRK Debatten broadcast was the growing weight of Norwegians and the problem it poses for society. According to a new report, overweight Norwegians cost approximately NOK 65 billion a year as a result of rising healthcare costs.

See video clips of the debate at the top of the case.

Read more: The grip that can make Norwegian sodas as cheap as Swedish: – Impossible to miss these numbers

Debate on the sugar tax increase

The case sparks strong engagement, and several of the debaters during the NRK broadcast of the debate advocated, among other things, for calorie and content labeling on all products, and a free healthy meal at school. But the measure that generated the most debate was the proposal for a new sugar tax.

– We need smarter taxes that change consumption from unhealthy products to healthy products. Today, sugar-free soft drinks and sugar-coated soft drinks have the same tax on sugar. So the tax doesn’t have the desired effect of pushing customers in the desired direction, says Mina Gerhardsen.

Read more: Report: Norwegian soft drinks are at the forefront of sugar in Europe

She is the leader of the National Public Health Association and believes that there are clear health benefits to increasing the sugar tax. But you don’t want to be specific about how much a bottle of cola should cost.

– Here we must let the experts give advice on which device works best to have an effect on health. Experience both from trials in Norway and from other countries that have introduced such taxes shows that small changes are often needed to get a clear health benefit, Gerhardsen tells Nettavisen.

The article continues after the measurement.

Also read: Harvard with alarming research on soft drinks

Both Gerhardsen and nutrition professor Liv Elin Torheim referred to other countries that have increased or introduced similar tax systems, such as the UK.

– These are things that need to be investigated, but it can be helpful to look at the models in both the UK and Ireland, Torheim tells Nettavisen.

Think that the tax increase does not help

But for a tax to have the necessary effect, of course it must be higher than it is today on products with a lot of sugar. When the government previously raised the tax, it caused a landslide among Norwegian companies and other politicians. Some of the trade disappeared across the border into Sweden.

Read more: Professor believes Pepsi misleads customers in new ad campaign

Britain’s Christopher Snowdon is affiliated with the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank. He believes that it is completely wrong to tax more sugar consumption and does not believe that there has been any success in the UK.

In an article, Snowdon writes that there is no clear evidence that such a tax works and that it has largely little justification.

– It is not clear that overweight and obesity are a net cost to society. A study from the Netherlands shows that throughout life, the health costs of a person with obesity are significantly lower than those of lean people. Simply for the macabre reason that they die sooner, Snowdon writes.

Read also: Silence for the Giske debate: Fredrik Solvang fights back with force

In addition, he believes that the research does not show a clear connection between a higher sugar tax and less overweight.

– For a sugar tax to work, people must respond to incentives in a predictable way. In practice, people behave in different ways that undermine the tax. A decade of empirical research has failed to show that the sugar tax affects obesity and has little effect on calorie intake, he writes.

Read more: Will reduce taxes on soft drinks, juices and airplanes: – We must secure jobs in Norway

The Norwegian professor believes, however, that there is good international research behind the use of taxes and fees to steer people in a healthier direction.

“Using taxes and fees to shift consumption in a healthier direction is a profitable and internationally recognized tool that is also recommended by the WHO,” he writes in the recent report.

You must look at the fees

Parts of the business community have warned of an increase in the sugar tax, because it could lead to increased cross-border trade. Mina Gerhardsen thinks we should look at quotas.

– Border trade is challenging, but we must be able to consider measures here without sacrificing health considerations. Along with several other healthcare organizations, we have advocated considering alcohol quotas for tax-free and cross-border trade, as lower priced alcohol is a major reason many choose to trade across the border, He says.