Where do your tax dollars go?

It is a medical fact that soda and sugary drinks contribute to our nation’s rampant obesity problem. According to a 2010 report in The American Journal of Public Health, the federal government’s Food Stamps program allows an estimated $4 billion per year to be used to help fuel the obesity epidemic by paying for these high-calorie, obesogenic drinks. So every year, our tax payments are used to fund this unhealthy dietary practice, fostering a national health crisis.

Not only are we paying for consumption of these drinks, but we must also subsidize the health care costs that are related to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and joint-replacements, as well as for scooters that allow these overweight and disabled individuals to have some freedom of movement.

Our tax dollars that are used to pay for these unhealthy products make their way back to the companies that produce these products. Those tax dollars can then be recycled to pay for the advertising that helps fuel our children’s’ consumption of products that promote obesity, sickness and dependence on the subsidized healthcare.

It is a vicious cycle that requires vigorous action at the medical, educational and regulatory levels.

As a wise commentator said, when you subsidize a certain kind of behavior, you get more of it.

As with too many generic crises, unfortunately, we can thank the logic of subsidies and entitlements for the perpetuation of an entirely avoidable and worsening behavior-related health disaster.