Thank you for your excellent editorial1 on the tender topic of obesity.
As Canadians, we are pampered with a perceived entitlement to health care no matter how much we have subjected ourselves to health risks.
Dr. Norman Campbell, now at the University of Calgary, has been a long-time advocate for the model used in North Karelia, Finland where the use of “The Fat Tax” (and I apologize for these offensive three-letter words) has resulted in sustained benefits to the local population with a reduction in hypertension, heart disease and stroke over a period of more than 30 years. We would love to see this in Canada.2,3
Although Fletcher and Patrick’s solution has merit, it may cause Canadians countrywide to choke on the political pill they are suggesting we swallow. Ironically, we would be healthier. What do we really want I wonder? Clearly having our cake, and eating so much of it, is not working.