Eating Ourselves to Death

IT SEEMS WE'RE GETTING CREAMED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST OBESITY.
 IT'S A FACTOR IN CLOSE TO THREE- MILLION DEATHS EACH YEAR IN THE U-S.
 SO, IS IT TIME TO TACKLE OUR WEIGHT PROBLEM WITH A TAX?
 WE'RE BOMBARDED BY FAST FOOD, FAT FOOD, SUGARY FOODS, JUST PLAIN BAD FOR YOU FOODS.
  TO GET CONTROL OF THIS WEIGHTY ISSUE, GOVERNMENTS WANT MORE CONTROL OF YOUR CASH.
 Dr. Robert Lustig says, "Who do you want in your kitchen?  The federal government who will take your wallet and your freedom, or the food industry, who has already taken your wallet, your freedom, and your health?"
 THE FAT TAX, A-K-A THE TWINKIE TAX, IS A HARD SELL, CHARGING CONSUMERS MORE FOR FOODS HIGH IN CALORIES, FAT, AND SUGAR, AND LOW IN NUTRITION.
 WE PUT PEOPLE THROUGH THE FAT TAX TEST, DURING A NON-SCIENTIFIC 30 DAY EXPERIMENT. WE CHARGED A BUCK EACH TIME ANY OF THEM ATE FOOD ON OUR LIST.
 Fat tax participant Susan Bekaet says, "I go out to lunch probably four days a week."
 SUSAN BEKAERT IS LIKE MOST AMERICANS.
 AFTER 30 DAYS, THE HARSH REALITY OF WHAT SHE EATS, TOO MANY CHIPS, TOO MUCH SODA!
 LIEFKE COX AND RICHARD MYERS ARE RAISING A GROWING BOY!
 PEANUT BUTTER AND PROCESSED MEATS MAKE A QUICK MEAL, LOADED WITH SUGAR AND FAT.
 JORDAN HYLTON FOUND OUT THE COST OF A POOR DIET THE HARD WAY.
 WITH HELP FROM HER LITTLE SISTER, THEY COUNTED UP JUST HOW MUCH A TAX WOULD COST HER FAMILY.
 IT WASN'T THE COST THAT WORRIED THEIR MOTHER, IT WAS NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT SHE WAS FEEDING HER GIRLS.
 Concerned Mother Courtney Hylton says, "And that's what's frustrating! Like, I don't want to spend three hours in a grocery store reading labels."
 IN ALL, OUR PARTICIPANTS PAID FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO DOLLARS TO THE FAT TAX, IN ONE MONTH.
 Hylton: "And that's a lot of money wasted."
 HUNGARY HAS A 50 CENT TAX ON FATTY FOODS, SODA, AND ALCOHOL.
 FRANCE IS DEBATING THE NUTELLA TAX, A HIT ON THE CHOCOLATE SPREAD MADE WITH PALM OIL.
 IN MARCH, NEW YORK CITY'S BAN OF SODAS LARGER THAN 16 OUNCES IS SUPPOSED TO GO INTO EFFECT.
 THE CITY BANNED TRANS FATS SEVERAL YEARS AGO. A STUDY FINDS, ON AVERAGE, TRANS FAT IN PEOPLE'S FAST FOOD MEALS HAVE DROPPED FROM THREE GRAMS, TO HALF A GRAM, BECAUSE OF THE BAN.