Hot on the heels of several states' intervening in child nutrition with Happy Meal Ordinances, an Illinois senator recently proposed denying parents of obese kids their standard $2,000 annual tax deduction. Effectively, if you're kids are too fat, it's gonna cost you.
Aside from being completely unconstitutional, it's hard to imagine how this would ever be enforced. Should our schools be required to ramp up an entire program to monitor and adjudicate kids' weight? And who decides what weight triggers the fat-kid tax? Is everyone going to be subject to some beef-jerky-looking skinny lady with thinning hair and a cardigan in May measuring their arm flab? As if school isn't already traumatic enough.
It also smacks a bit of class warfare. If you're broke (which most families these days are) and trying to feed two kids, you're going to have to opt for high-calorie, low-cost options, rather than grass-fed, organic groceries. And how about working Moms? I'm sure lots of women would love to stay home and make homemade, organic applesauce for their babies. Instead they have to drag their tired butts to work so they can knock out the rent. Oh, and it just got more expensive for her to get to work, thanks to gas prices, so there goes even more of the weekly grocery budget. Wouldn't we just be taxing people for being too poor to shop at Whole Foods? Shame on these parents for being too busy working to devote the time someone else determines they should to wellness and nutrition! A little judgy, no?
What it breaks down to is this: Is weight a societal issue or a personal one? It's easy to argue the point either way. Rising health care costs, off-the-charts diabetes rates in children, and so much more mounting evidence make it an easy call to do anything we can as communities to encourage healthier eating. But where do we draw the line?
Can we maintain our American values of independence and privacy and still police everyone's lunch? We'd love to know what you think. Please leave your comments.
Photo by: chrisdlugosz
Ed Note: There is nothing fat about the baby in the image accompanying this post. We just loved the happy little face!
