A consortium led by India’s major medical panel is demanding a health tax on foods that are packed with fat, sugar and salt, as well as strict rules for foods that are aimed at children.

With the rate of obesity among adolescents in India, a group headed by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition has called for immediate action to improve the food environment for the youth.

According to the data, about 12.5 million children aged 5–19 were found to be overweight in 2022-a drastic increase in 1990 from 0.4 million. The overweight and obesity of childhood has also exceeded 4 percent in 1975 in 2016. Around canteens and educational institutions, as provided in guidelines by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The consortium has emphasized that to deal with the increasing epidemic of obesity, which leads to type 2 diabetes, requires integrating taxation, integrating strict marketing restrictions on unhealthy foods, improving food labels and increasing public awareness.

No clear health policy

Currently, there is no clear health tax policy, as existing goods and service tax, or GST, do not distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods.

The consortium has suggested to introduce children to “additional health tax” and 32 percent tax of 20–30 percent on Chinese-sweet beverages to help children curb frequent sale of unhealthy foods. An amendment to the taxation of Chinese options such as non-nutrient and artificial sweeteners-which is currently taxed at the same rate, as regular sugar is also proposed.

How do junk and sugar foods cause obesity?

According to experts, consumption of high diet in pairs, such as sweet beverages, candy, ripe goods and sugar grains, is a major contribution factor in weight gain and chronic health conditions, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and even cancer.

Why Chinese foods can be harmful, for some reasons:

It contains empty calories

The added sugars are loaded with sweetness that are added to foods and beverages to improve taste. Some of these, including fructose, corn syrup, sugarcane sugar and agave, not only gain weight due to high calories, but also empty calories. This means that they lack nutrients like vitamins, minerals, proteins, fat and fiber.

Increase blood sugar levels

Sugar foods significantly increase your blood sugar levels, causing hyperglycemia, which is a highly dangerous condition. Over time, high blood sugar levels can spoil the normal cell function and promote inflammation, which increases insulin resistance, furthering this devastating cycle. High-sugar diets are also associated with leptin resistance, which increases appetite and contributes to weight gain and excess body.

Reason

Eating too much added sugar, especially those foods that are packed with a type of sugar, which are known as fructose, greatly increase the level of hormone ghralin promoting hunger, while the hunger-dominated hormone reduces the level of peptide yy.

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