How do you solve a problem like obesity?

Fat people. They’re everywhere. Especially in schools. In fact, if Jamie Oliver is to be believed, you’re lucky if you have a kid and he’s not obese. But whether that’s true or not (it’s not) is a story for another day.

Thanks to Coronavirus this is a bigger problem than ever. The obese are at a far greater risk than the non-obese, hence Boris Johnson highlighted the importance of fighting obesity to combat coronavirus deaths. But what can be done to help? Too many people, in this increasingly Statist country we live in, are rushing to ask this question: how best can the state wield its powers to make fat people healthier?

Well, one tried and tested way to motivate people to act a certain way is to provide them with role models. Footballers are encouraged to behave well publicly because it is well known that boys look up to them as heroes and copy what they do- both on and off the pitch. Perhaps there could be adverts with healthy looking models who could become aspirational targets for the overweight? But we can’t take this approach. Apparently promoting healthy body images is “fat shaming” (see TFL vs Protein World).

Ok then. If we can’t move the donkey by offering a carrot, perhaps we can move him with the sick. We can use scare tactics! Maybe there could be a move to publicise the negative effects of being overweight. There are well known links between weight and diabetes and, even more frighteningly, cancer. No one likes cancer. I’m terrified of it: every new mole or spot or anything even remotely like a lump gives me chills. Surely most people fear it too? Maybe there could be a campaign centring around how obesity can lead to cancer? Oh no. Apparently warning people about cancer is fat shaming too (see SJWs vs Cancer Research UK).

So if we can’t motivate people to act differently, then perhaps we can force their hand. After all, it boils down to making people eat healthily: the police seemed to love the new powers of the Coronavirus laws, maybe they could stand over the checkout, making sure everyone buys fruit and veg and not junk food. And while they’re at it they could make sure everyone exercises enough. Maybe we could move everyone into huge hutches with running wheels and feed them only lettuce! I’m sorry, I got carried away- that was neither clever nor funny- but only because it’s all too ludicrous.

But it might have piqued the interest of those of a more totalitarian disposition. Perhaps, they will say, we could ban unhealthy foods. Firstly, this would be utterly impractical: not least because it would rest upon an ultimately arbitrary definition of “unhealthy”. And one man’s healthy is another man’s unhealthy. For example, you can’t just ban sugary foods because that could kill all the hypoglycaemics within a week. And that’s without even going into how damaging it would be for both the economy and the reputation of the nation. It would be one hell of a backwards country to ban the Big Mac.

When it came to getting people to stop smoking, only one thing was undeniably successful: money. Every time taxes of tobacco went up, more and more people stopped smoking. Money could be the key to fighting against fatness. And there are only two ways money can go: in or out. Obviously, the government can’t give money to people for buying healthy food- this would bankrupt the nation is days. Equally, government price controls to keep healthy food cheap would fail like all other price controls and would lead to a reduced food supply- and the last thing we need in a time of crisis like this is less avocadoes.  

Raise prices. This is all we have left. Ban offers on junk food, raise taxes on sugary drinks, try to force the price up so that the healthy option is also the cheaper one. But hold on a minute. The only people affected by the high price of cigarettes were smokers. And the idea was to stop anyone from smoking. But everyone is affected by the high price of foods. And no one except extremists is suggesting that no one should ever have a sugary drink or a burger again. And that’s the crux of the matter: increasing prices affects everyone. Rich and poor will have to pay more for their food. And, what’s more, lower income families spend proportionately more on food than richer families, which means the poorer you are, the more these taxes affect you.

But, perhaps more importantly, why should the majority of the country, who are a healthy weight, suffer just because a minority can’t stop themselves stuffing their faces? Why should I have to pay more when I treat myself to a Burger King, just because some people see a Whopper as a staple food?

I shouldn’t. No one should. It’s unfair.

The government shouldn’t do anything to help because there’s really nothing it can do. It should let people live their own lives and suffer the consequences of their decisions. If I want a KFC bargain bucket and large Coke the government should keep its mouth shut. And if I eat so many that I put on weight, then so be it- my life, my decisions, my consequences.