More and more people are becoming seriously overweight. Some people think a solution can be to increase the price of fattening foods. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

To begin, increasing the price of calorie-dense, nutritionally poor foods can effectively reduce their consumption, since cost is a powerful determinant of purchasing behaviour. To clarify, when unhealthy options such as sugary drinks or processed snacks become noticeably more expensive relative to healthier alternatives, consumers are naturally incentivised to reconsider their choices. For instance, several countries that introduced taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages subsequently observed measurable declines in their sales, demonstrating that price adjustments can directly influence dietary habits. Moreover, revenue generated from such taxes can be reinvested into public health campaigns or subsidised healthy food programmes, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that further supports healthier eating across the population.

However, relying solely on price increases risks disproportionately burdening low-income households without necessarily addressing the underlying causes of obesity. This is attributable to the fact that processed, fattening foods are often the most affordable and accessible options for financially constrained families, meaning higher prices could strain already tight household budgets rather than genuinely altering behaviour. Furthermore, obesity is frequently driven by factors beyond food pricing alone, including limited nutritional education, sedentary lifestyles and inadequate access to fresh produce in certain neighbourhoods. Consequently, without complementary measures, such as subsidising fruit and vegetables or improving nutritional education in schools, taxation alone is unlikely to substantially reverse rising obesity rates.

To conclude, although increasing the price of fattening foods can discourage their consumption and generate valuable public health revenue, I believe this measure must be combined with subsidies for healthy alternatives and improved nutritional education to effectively address obesity in a fair and sustainable manner, rather than being pursued as a standalone solution.