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Conversely, health food choices raised in price exacerbating demand.Tax the healthy choice.

Glad to see people are finally wising up...even it price hikes on unhealthy food had to be the catalyst to shake folks up!

The solution to the obesity epidemic shouldn't be to tax the fast foods, but to hold food purveyors responsible for what they're selling to the public. We need stricter standards on what is considered "safe" to consume. Taxing fast foods will just make eating more expensive for the poor, who frequently choose to eat fast food because it's perceived as being cheaper than fresh food. Instead, why doesn't someone give us a reasonably healthy and cheap alternative, while phasing out the bad stuff?

It isn't enough for McDonald's to offer salads and chicken on their menus.
They ought to start completely removing bad items like the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or 4 Apple Pies for $2, or $1 Double Cheeseburger.
Understanding that people will eat junk food if it's available, why should we continue to make it available? There is no reason that a socially conscious business should be selling that stuff to people anyway.

Education, & personal responsibility is key. Cigarettes, alcohol & street drugs are expensive, too...but we can't stop people from making their "choices". We can attempt to educate them, & have positive incentives for making healthier choices. Healthy, inexpensive & tasty competitive fast food places are beginning to make their way to the mainstream...keep your eyes open!

I hope they did not waste more money on this study. Not only has these results been reported over and over for years but it's also a given that the lower the income the greater the likelihood to rely on fast food for regular meals. The greater the income the more likely people can afford better quality foods.

Last year my wife and I determined to shop only the outside isles of the store. Only fresh fruits and vegetables, striving for organic items and fresh wild fish not farm raised. Our grocery bill has nearly tripled what it used to be. We continue to strive for the better and fresh foods but there is no question it s much more expensive.

Perhaps we need to stop subsidizing food processors, and corporate food manufacturers, and stop asking farmers to idle lands or trash crops to prop up fresh food prices. If fresh food were more reasonable and accessible then more people would grow up eating it. When food stamps support packaged foods and discourage the procurement of the better items the poor will continue to be educated to eat the worst possible foods.

Don't over regulate the retailers or tax the bad foods as is the natural inclination. Somehow we can always tax more yet that never really helps. Instead stop making fresh food so expensive by price managing farmers and let food prices come down naturally.