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Should there be a tax on fatty foods?

Elaine Yu Yee-nee, 15, Creative Secondary School

Fat is essential for human growth. It helps moderate body temperature and store energy. We can divide fats into two types: 'good' and 'bad' fats.

Good fats include polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, which can lower our cholesterol levels. Bad fats include saturated fats and trans fats, which increase the risk of heart disease and obesity.

A health tax should be imposed on foods that contain bad fats.

People who consume too much fat are at risk of becoming obese. Obesity causes other diseases, such as high blood pressure and heart problems.

A tax on fatty foods would help reduce obesity in Hong Kong.

Most people would think twice before buying unhealthy foods if they were more expensive. The tax on tobacco makes people smoke less. Many of them have even quit. The same idea would work with fatty foods.

A tax on unhealthy foods would make shop owners stock up on healthier products in order to make a profit. Food makers would come up with healthier products.

Everyone would benefit. People could enjoy low-fat products, and makers and shops would still make profits.

All in all, imposing a tax on fatty foods would help people eat more healthily.

Ronald Ling Pak-ki, 20, University of Hong Kong

Obesity is becoming a more serious problem in Hong Kong, especially among young children and teens. Fatty foods are the major cause of this problem.

Some people have suggested a tax on fatty foods to lower consumption and improve the public's health.

I don't think that is the best option to tackle the problem.

A new tax on fatty foods would not solve the obesity epidemic. The main reason for obesity is the lack of exercise. Lowering consumption of fatty foods would not make much of a difference.

Take the heavy tax on cigarettes and alcohol as an example. Those schemes have failed to reduce consumption.

The best method for tackling widespread obesity would be to encourage people to develop the habit of exercising regularly.

What's more, the tax would violate our freedom to choose our food. People do not expect the government to force them to decide what to eat and what not to eat with a tax system.

It is unfair to prevent people from eating what they like. People should have the right to choose what they eat. The government should not try to influence people's diets by imposing a tax on fatty foods.

The money and resources that would go into setting up a new tax would be much better spent on promoting the benefits of regular exercise. We should tackle the problem of widespread obesity by getting people to exercise more.

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