Last week, a New Zealand nutritional group suggested that food should be taxed according to its fat content in an effort to curb obesity. More than half of all New Zealanders are overweight or obese, and obesity claims the lives of more than 1,000 people each year in this country of 4 million, twice the number killed in traffic accidents, Agencies for Nutrition Action reported on June 15.

Agencies chief Sue Zimmerman said "We've got to take action…We're saying if we don't include a really long-term commitment to prevention, we're going to be in trouble with this."

While there is not much evidence that higher taxes would keep people from buying high-fat foods, she recommended they should look into it. Zimmerman said, however, that she believed teaching people how to reduce fat in their diet may be a better way of handling the obesity problem.

"We make fantastic low-fat products in New Zealand but we need more incentive for their prices to be accessible to those people on low incomes," she added.

Source: Associated Press