Ethical Analysis for Leaders
Obesity has reached the epidemic scale in the United States. Numerous researchers propose various methods how to fight obesity. The taxation of high-sugar, high-fat or high-carbohydrate food is one of them. It is necessary to point out that the junk food taxation has little effect on the decrease of the Body Mass Index in contrast to the control over the food diet.
As it is stated by the American Heart Association (2017) one of three Americans are obese, another third of citizens are overweight. It is indicated in the report that the main causes of obesity are increased access to the variety of affordable and palatable foods; increased time spent before computers, TV sets, other gadgets; the kind of “nutritional programming” as the transferring of the obesity risk from obese or overweight mother to her unborn child; possible changes in the digestive track bacteria; changes in the level of stress and sleep patterns; decreased physical jobs; and even the temperature levels in workplaces and houses.
In order to understand ethical challenges in junk food taxation, it is necessary to underline the needs of all stakeholders. MacKinnon and Fiala (2014) underlines that utilitarian ethical theory implies that ethical deed should maximize the positive outcomes for the stakeholders and minimize the potential harms. As for the Golden Rule ethics, it is necessary to behave with others in such a way the person desires them to act correspondingly in the same situation. The ethical theory based on the rights approach reports that the ethical decision is one that does not violate the rights of the stakeholders.
In the situation analyzed, if the tax will be imposed to the fatty foods, low-income families will struggle even more without the ability to satisfy their basic needs for having sufficient volume of food. Moreover, the producers of the taxed fatty food will be forced to increase prices, thus the demand will decreased leading to the cut in salaries or bonuses received for the sales targets achievement. Taking into regards, that wage decrease is related primary to the low and middle level positions, the welfare of the low-income and average-income families will be declined.
Franck, Grandi and Eisenberg (2013) underline “high excise taxes are likely to have a direct impact on weight in at-risk populations but are less likely to be politically palatable or sustainable” (p. 1949). This is associated with the budget constrictions in poor communities. At the same time small excise taxes may gain substantial revenue for producers but are unlikely to decrease obesity rates by changing the level of consumption. Ogden, Lamb and Carroll (2010) report the most important socioeconomic characteristics related to the obesity. Obesity prevalence among men is generally the same for all income levels. There is a trend that men with higher income levels have slightly higher rates of obesity. At the same time, with the decrease in income among women the level of obesity increases. The authors make important conclusion that …
