Fast Food & Happiness
Big-government nanny-staters have been arguing for some time for a “fat tax”, often with the accompanying cries of “think of the children!”
Researchers at National Taiwan University and the University of Arkansas investigated the data found in the National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan.
The results, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, demonstrate that “children who ate fast food and drank soft drinks were more likely to be overweight, but they were also less likely to be unhappy. “
It would seem a tax on fast food is yet another tax on happiness.
Advertisement
10 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
-
Recent Comments
Libertarians and ele… on Libertarians and elections (an… 
Dom Vasta on Libertarians and elections (an… 
Shem Bennett on Libertarians and elections (an… 
'Nuke' Gray on Libertarians and elections (an… Dom Vasta on Libertarians and elections (an… 
TerjeP (say tay-a) on Libertarians and elections (an… TerjeP (say tay-a) on Libertarians and elections (an… 'Nuke' Gray on Libertarians and elections (an… Shem Bennett on Libertarians and elections (an… 
Brendan Halfweeg on The Santa Claus Governmen…
Catallaxy Files- Open Forum: February 11, 2012 February 10, 2012 Sinclair Davidson
- Not all recessions are caused by the Fed February 10, 2012More middle of the night blogging. My economics is classical. The almost perfect overlay of my own book can be found in a series of notes taken by Nicholas Kaldor at the LSE in 1927-29 from lectures delivered by the great American economist, Allyn Young. These notes were only published around a decade ago but [...]Steve Kates
- Where’s Romney? February 10, 2012It is quite extraordinary to watch the American political process up close. Now, I admit I have been busy and I don’t watch much of the television and do not read a lot of the press. But before I arrived the thing I did want to do was see more of Mitt Romney since from [...]Steve Kates
- inCISe
- More on PHI rebate means test February 10, 2012When I wrote in Incise yesterday, ‘Rebate should not be means tested,’ I did not expect events to move quite as quickly as they have. The government seems confident it has the numbers to get the means test through. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob Oakshott and Andrew Wilkie have indeed swallowed the government’s nonsensical arguments, but it will be interestin […]Robert Carling
- Quiggin versus Carling and Kirchner February 9, 2012John Quiggin accuses Robert Carling and I of ‘an appalling breach of elementary standards of research’ for not acknowledging that Alberto Alesina’s work on the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus and consolidations is ‘highly controversial.’ In fact, we referenced Alesina’s work precisely because it has featured so prominently in public debate, including in the […]Stephen Kirchner
- Police going too far February 9, 2012According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, police are lecturing parents for letting their children walk to the shops or catch a bus on their own, with senior police saying such incidents will be reported to the Department of Community Services (DOCs) if a child is considered at risk. But when is a child ‘at risk’? One mother was told it was inappr […]Sara Hudson
- More on PHI rebate means test February 10, 2012
- IPA news
- Let European dogs lie February 9, 2012Australians will be surprised to learn that, apparently, the federal government now has responsibility to help the city of...
- It's time to bring back the thrift February 9, 2012Ted Baillieu plans to shave 3600 jobs from Victoria's bloated public service. The state of Wisconsin in the US, with a...
- We'll huff, we'll puff, we'll blow the budget into surplus February 8, 2012Bill Clinton famously said, "It's the economy, stupid". So it is. Unsuccessful politicians might be inclined to argue,...
- Let European dogs lie February 9, 2012
lol… yep, the fun sheriffs want to ruin it for all of us. Sadly, I think they’ll get their way.
The study also suggested that “Children from lower income households were more likely to have unhealthy dietary habits and be overweight or obese”
By that measure you could also draw the conclusion that “Children from lower income households are happier”.
In reality however the study falls short in that it looked at a transitory life period – childhood, where happiness/unhappiness with self-image is variable than at later times, particularly during adolesence. It would be interesting for the researchers to interview the same children at ages 14, 17 and 21.
In any case I think you misrespresent the research by arriving at a conclusion that a ‘tax on fast food is a tax on happiness’. A tax on fast food is a tax on fast food. In fact we already have one – the GST. Preparing your own food avoids GST – buying fast food attracts GST. The government would do better to remind people of the cost savings of NOT buying fast food than to implement another tax.
In any case if we have to rely on fast food to make our children happy then we are doing something badly wrong.
Considering it’s a survey and not a controlled trial, the results are probably meaningless.
This is the kind of crap masquerading as “science” these days. There’s no way of determining causes and effects here.
Also how did the study distinguish between pleasure and actual happiness?
A long term junkie is experiencing pleasure if you ask him at the right time of day, but would you say he was happy?
How exactly do you measure Happiness anyway? I dont think even the King of Bhutan has worked that one out yet.
Not a good libertarian argument this one – stick to the line that it is up to parents, not the government to control their kids nutrition, which might occasionally include McDonalds as a reward/treat.
This post has been linked for the HOT5 Daily 4/17/2009, at The Unreligious Right
thought you might enjoy this twitter feed
http://twitter.com/ourenemy
it’s from the point of view of the state
give it a follow if you like it
Yeah, I have to admit, happiness studies are a bit of a nonsense… they’re usually used by lefties to claim that people are less happy now than when they were peasants.
fast foods are of course very popular these days because the price is cheap and there are lots of menu to choose from -
Wow, this was a true quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I keep putting it off and never appear to induce one thing done
It’s really a cool and useful piece of info. I’m happy that you simply shared this useful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.