Changing Policy is the Only Way

I finally came to the realization that the only way we will be able to positively impact health is to change policies around food. It’s something I’ve thought about and agreed with ever since reading Food Fix, by Dr. Mark Hyman, but even after I read it I still believed that if enough people, myself included, could spread information and knowledge about ways to take control of your health, that it would be enough. But I realize now it’s not. It was really driven home after hearing this bit on a Joe Rogan podcast episode with Dr. Aseem Malhorta beginning at about 2:24. It goes on for a few minutes and is worth listening to, but I found this part the most impactful.

“Do you know what the biggest healthcare breakthrough has happened in the last 40 - 50 years, in the Western world? Taxation of cigarettes. 50% of the decline in heart disease deaths has happened because of smoking. But it only happened when their were regulations imposed. In public health we call about addressing the affordability, availability, and acceptability of cigarettes.”

I couldn’t find a paper referencing these exact stats, but this article, The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Tobacco Taxation, from the National Bureau of Economic Research corroborates the statement.

In April 2018 the UK imposed a tax on sugary drinks above a certain threshold. While the reviews are mixed on whether or not it had an impact on consumer habits, it definitely got the attention of beverage makers who, in an effort to maintain sales volume, have been reducing the amount of sugar in their drinks to meet or be below the threshold and avoid the tax.

There is no shortage of physicians, PhDs and influencers raising awareness of what it takes to be healthy, but for so long as society makes it easy and cheap to consume unhealthy substances, than we will never see any meaningful change in the health of our nation. We need policies that promote health and incentivize the right choices.