FAST-FOOD FAT TAX

Public asked to give feedback Sweeping study to cost $463,000 Critics say it will punish poor Two-thirds of adults overweight

A GOVERNMENT- backed study is investigating whether to back a fat tax on McDonald’s, KFC and other fast foods in a bid to tackle Australia’s obesity epidemic.

Despite criticism that increasing junk food prices will hit the poor, the Government’s preventative health agency – ANPHA – is funding the most comprehensive study ever into the potential tax change – to the tune of $463,000.

The public is being asked to give feedback on paying more for hamburgers and other fatty foods with a ‘‘citizens jury’’ to debate next weekend whether shifting tax scales is the most efficient – and equitable – means of addressing the nation’s weight problem.

With two-thirds of Australian adults considered overweight, research project leader, Griffith University’s Tracy Comans, says failure to act will lead to ‘‘catastrophic’’ results for the health system.

‘‘We need to look beyond blaming individuals and towards the structural things in our society,’’ said Dr Comans, from the Centre for Applied Health Economics.

The three-year project – costing $463,442 – is considering ‘‘the cost-effectiveness and consumer acceptability of taxation strategies to reduce rates of overweight and obesity among children in Australia’’.

Fourteen members of the public will spend next weekend in Brisbane debating the merits of a fat tax and listening to health experts, GPs and food industry representatives.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Government’s tax system review did not recommend such a tax.

‘‘Our preferred approach is to actively educate and encourage Australians to adopt and maintain a healthy diet rather than to legislate.’’

She said the study was being funded by ANPHA as part of its research grants.

Dr Comans argues that Australia cannot afford to put the issue of obesity in the too-hard basket.

‘‘In 20 to 30 years, the consequences of obesity in terms of strokes, heart disease, kidney and liver failure are going to be catastrophic for our health care system,’’ she said.

But the chief executive of the Australian Food and Grocery Council Gary Dawson said the research project was ‘‘a complete waste of health dollars on a discredited idea’’.

He said Denmark had abandoned its ‘‘fat tax’’ after a year.

‘‘It raised food prices, hit the poorest the hardest and failed to bring about any measurable public health benefit and was a shocking policy trifecta that no sensible government would want to emulate,’’ he said.