France is currently fighting obesity by banning unlimited soda refills. Restaurants in France will no longer allow soda refills to customers, facing prosecution if they do not obey to the regulations adopted on January 27. They want to combat obesity after the country had already imposed a sweetened beverages tax back in 2012.
- France is trying to combat obesity by banning soda refills.
- The country imposed new regulations imposing a beverage tax on sugary drinks.
- Thus, they hope people will be more tempted to consume more health foods.
In 2004, this country prohibited vending machines in schools. Back in 2011, France limited French fries in school cafeterias, being served only once a week. The new regulation imposed is the country’s latest effort to fight against this disease, decreasing the rates of national obesity. After the new law has been adopted, a lot of fast food restaurants will be evaluated.
France’s new rules are in accordance with the recommendations of WHO organization. This group has advised all countries to establish a tax for all sugary drinks to decrease the obesity rates. They should support the positive health effects of the policy which was first issued in 2016. A recent detailed review has proved that using fiscal policy interventions to prevent non-communicable illnesses and improve diets managed to bring successful outcomes. The method was the most consistent for the efficiency of SSB taxes.
The Fiscal Policies for Diet and Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases stated that these taxes helped to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks by 20%-50%, while the use of fruits and vegetables increased by 10-30%. The ‘Bulletin epidemiologic Hebdomadaire’ has revealed in a report that the overall rate of obesity in France is low, reaching about 57% in men and approximately 41% in women with ages between 30 and 60.
Currently, this country is listed among those who registered the lowest overweight rates and the lowest obesity. However, based on the data provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the numbers are slowly but steadily increasing. According to information provided by Eurostat, back in 2014, the share of obese people in France reached 15.3 percent, being below the European Union’s average of 15.9%.
Among the European countries, Romania is known to register the lowest share of obesity of about 9.4%, while Malta indicates the highest obesity rate of 26%. The same report connected obesity with education. The overweight persons with low education represent about 20% of the entire share. For those with high-level education, the rates indicate 11.5%.
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