Health issues caused by overconsumption of junk food is a rising trend, which local councils are considering to impose greater tax rates on these food items to mitigate the issue. I fully agree with this initiative as it disincentivises the public from eating fast food and increases public health standards.
When higher taxes increase the prices of fast food, more of the public would be deterred from purchasing it. By persuading them to choose alternatives, it is highly likely that their diets will consist of mainly healthy meals like salads and fruits instead of junk foods like fried chicken. As a result, a greater proportion of the population would significantly lower their risks of developing health problems related to fast food like obesity. For example, Switzerland has recently implemented a similar initiative by increasing the taxes on fast food, which directly led to lowered consumption of it, as well as decreased obesity rates.
In addition, by raising the costs of such unhealthy food items, general health standards also improve accordingly. For instance, if more people switch to purchasing and eating healthier alternatives, the rates of contracting certain health issues also fall. Therefore, as consuming less junk food becomes the norm in society, it can be expected that the public health standard also rises with a lower number of people suffering from obesity and high cholesterol, which are caused by excess consumption of fast foods. This would be another advantage of imposing higher taxes on such food items since it improves the health of a population in the long term, further benefitting the future generation by instilling better food habits.
To conclude, although it has been argued whether governments should or should not raise taxes on fast food, I completely agree with implementing them as it would directly benefit the population by tackling the rising health issues in question and improve public health standards for the long run.