From Your Health Journal…..”An interesting article by By Sean Whaley and Caillyn Belcher of the Las Vegas Review Journal called Nevada lawmaker pursues ‘fat tax’ on fast-food items. We discussed here on a number of occasions how New York City and LA are in the midst of taxing soft drinks as well as limiting their size served. Now in Nevada, a “fat tax” was introduced this week by a state lawmaker has drawn the Legislature into the national debate over the government’s role in tackling the obesity epidemic. This has been a controversy in many states, as well as overseas in countries like the UK. There are many who feel the government needs to get involved, and has the right to get involved, as it will effect health care in the future, as a young generation of children are obese, and have a very high chance of becoming obese adults – who may get sick due to their lifestyle. Then, there are others who feel the government has no right into interfering with what we consume. It is going to be interesting, as if this bill passes, it will spread to other states. Please visit the Las Vegas Review Journal to read the complete article.”

From the article…..

A man and his 6-year-old daughter walk out of a McDonald’s after finishing off a couple of burgers with fries Friday afternoon.

The 42-year-old Las Vegas resident says he had not heard about a bill that would tax calorie-rich fast foods in Nevada.

No, a 5-cent tax won’t stop him from going back to the restaurant, he says. It’s just too convenient.

But he doesn’t think the tax is a good idea at all.

“I don’t care for the idea much. We don’t eat much fast food,” he says, holding a large soda. “However, the tax is just going to hurt people who treat McDonald’s as a subsidized meal. We get taxed enough as it is.”

And so the Nevada discussion starts.

A “fat tax” introduced this week by a state lawmaker has drawn the Legislature into the national debate over the government’s role in tackling the obesity epidemic.

But the social engineering aspect of the proposal is drawing a mixed response in Nevada, where there has long been reluctance by many lawmakers to intrude on people’s personal habits.

Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas, on Thursday introduced Assembly Bill 122, which would impose a 5-cent tax on fast-food items containing more than 500 calories.

Munford said he anticipates that the additional cost would cause parents to dine at fast-food establishments less frequently, helping fight the obesity epidemic, particularly among children.

Munford said he occasionally eats at such establishments himself, but he typically orders a fish or chicken sandwich, not a hamburger.

To read the complete article…..Click here