Poll: Most Oppose Tax on Junk Food
This poll was taken as part of CBS News' "Where America Stands" series, an in-depth look at where the country stands today on key topics and an outlook for the future decade.
Most Americans want to lose weight, a new CBS News poll finds – but they do not favor a tax on junk food and do not believe that such a tax would help lower obersity.
The poll results reveal that the vast majority of Americans believe that obesity can be controlled. They do not feel, however, that the government should be imposing a tax on the foods most likely to make them obese. Sixty percent say they oppose such a tax, while 38 percent say it's a good idea.
The Senate has already considered a tax on soda and other sugary drinks, and President Obama has said he is open to such a tax. Yet Mr. Obama has acknowledged that there is resistance to such taxes.
"People's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that," he said in an interview last year. "It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people's health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."
Where America Stands: Battling Obesity
Seventy-two percent of Americans surveyed in the new CBS News poll say that a tax on junk food would not help people lose weight. Just 26 percent say it would help them do so.
Nearly nine in ten Americans say obesity can be controlled, not through taxation but through diet and exercise. Just seven percent say people cannot control their level of obesity.
That's not to say Americans don't believe the government should be doing more: Just one in five give the country an A or B grade when it comes to fighting obesity. Twice as many gave the country a D or F, while 35 percent offered a C grade.
Fifty-seven percent say obesity is a "very serious" public health problem, and another 38 percent call it a somewhat serious problem. Just five percent say it is not serious.
And a majority of Americans – 55 percent – say they themselves would like to lose weight. That includes 62 percent of women and 47 percent of men.
Forty percent of Americans are happy with their current weight, while a small number – five percent – would like to gain weight. Eight percent of men and just two percent of women say they want to gain weight.
Since at least 1990, according to Gallup polling, a majority of Americans have wanted to lose weight. But in the 1950s, the majority of Americans were happy with their weight, and only about one in three wanted to lose weight.
See More Stories and Videos from the Series: Where America Stands
Read the Complete Poll
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,048 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone December 17-22, 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. (CBS)
The poll results reveal that the vast majority of Americans believe that obesity can be controlled. They do not feel, however, that the government should be imposing a tax on the foods most likely to make them obese. Sixty percent say they oppose such a tax, while 38 percent say it's a good idea.
The Senate has already considered a tax on soda and other sugary drinks, and President Obama has said he is open to such a tax. Yet Mr. Obama has acknowledged that there is resistance to such taxes.
"People's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that," he said in an interview last year. "It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people's health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."
Where America Stands: Battling Obesity
Seventy-two percent of Americans surveyed in the new CBS News poll say that a tax on junk food would not help people lose weight. Just 26 percent say it would help them do so.
Nearly nine in ten Americans say obesity can be controlled, not through taxation but through diet and exercise. Just seven percent say people cannot control their level of obesity.
(CBS)
Fifty-seven percent say obesity is a "very serious" public health problem, and another 38 percent call it a somewhat serious problem. Just five percent say it is not serious.
And a majority of Americans – 55 percent – say they themselves would like to lose weight. That includes 62 percent of women and 47 percent of men.
Forty percent of Americans are happy with their current weight, while a small number – five percent – would like to gain weight. Eight percent of men and just two percent of women say they want to gain weight.
Since at least 1990, according to Gallup polling, a majority of Americans have wanted to lose weight. But in the 1950s, the majority of Americans were happy with their weight, and only about one in three wanted to lose weight.
See More Stories and Videos from the Series: Where America Stands
Read the Complete Poll
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,048 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone December 17-22, 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
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In the food debate we now know that education failing on the part of citizens and responsibility on the part of corporations has resulted in an obesity epidemic. It might be the gravest crisis facing Americans in a century. It undermines the ability of people to be productive citizens, hurts the economy and increases health costs by the trillions.
The surgeon general should declare a national disaster just like we did for cigarettes. Immediately target high fructose corn syrup as the health threat and every product that it is in. Impose a 1,000% tax on the product, bad all advertising by food companies that contains high fructose corn syrup, and ban all food advertising to children on TV, radio, print and email.
The Federal Government should start an advertising campaign to reeducate Americans about what to eat, how to eat and when to eat. Yes we need to regain our freedom, but we need to learn how to be responsible again. Only then will we have liberty again.
smokers have to go to the doctor's every single day? NO!
what exactly are we the taxpayers paying for?
skinny people get diabetes too! no insurance? we pay for them too?
non smokers can get lung problems too! asthuma to name one. we pay for them too?
what about false insurance claims. fraud! that seems to happen a lot. nobody seems to think about this one. just blame obese and smokers.
when a elected officials gets surgery we the people pay for it. here lately we have been paying for a lot of doctor visits and surgery.
we are all going to die some day, we will not live forever.
taxing the craPp out of everything to make people live the way the government wants them to is not right. i thought we lived in a free country where every man women and child has a right to choose how we live our lives. not do as i say like a communist country.
stop taxing everything