Fat Tax on Air Travel: How to Count Yourself Out

In 2002, a Swansea woman was awarded £13,000 as settlement for injuries caused by an obese passenger on an 11-hour flight from Heathrow to L.A. Barbara Hewson suffered torn leg muscles and hematoma on her chest as a result of the passenger crushing her as they were seated next to each other.

Hewson described the passenger as too enormous to get into her economy-class seat without raising the armrest and rolling into the adjacent seat. Her legs were pressing down on Hewson’s and her elbows rested on the latter’s chest as well. The effect was so bad throughout the 11-hour flight that she was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital in a wheelchair and injected with painkillers. There were torn muscles in her buttocks and damage to the muscles and sciatic nerves of her legs. Hewson was still experiencing pain after two years and had to use a cane to walk.

This is just one of the many stories of unpleasant experiences on board due to obese passengers. The US-based United Airlines received 700 complaints about overweight passengers in a single year alone, forcing it to adjust its ticketing policy and have larger passengers purchase two seats instead of one.

The issue of how airlines should deal with obese or severely overweight passengers and the imposition of the “fat tax” has sparked endless debates in the US, where a third of the adult population is clinically obese. The policy has caused some outrage among pressure groups, but when you see the figures, you might be tempted to agree. A 747 aircraft for example, has a current seating capacity of 467. Assume that a third of these people are obese. That’s roughly 143 overweight passengers per fully-booked commercial flight. If each passenger just weighed 50 pounds more, that’s about 3.25 tons more weight to carry!

The obesity problem spans the entire world, with the United Kingdom coming in a close third. Half of all its adults are heavier than the recommended weight, 2 in 5 are overweight, and 23 percent at the obesity level.

The figures have become so disturbing and people should be made aware that if only they can begin to lose 10% of their current weight, they will feel a whole lot better and are less likely to get sick from obesity related diseases.

The problem usually lies in knowing how to start an effective weight loss regimen. Most people jump into fad diets not knowing that doing so will simply result to a yoyo effect while dieting. What one needs to do to start losing weight effectively is to prepare the body by first getting rid of toxins and harmful elements that slow down the weight loss process. This can be achieved through a simple detox regime.

A highly effective detox program is The Clean 9 Nutritional Cleansing Program - an extensive detox process specifically designed to rid the body of unnatural chemicals and toxic build-up. As it cleanses and purifies, Clean 9 subsequently improves metabolism and digestion, thereby producing more encouraging weight loss results.

The Clean 9 detox regimen just takes 9 days and consists of a variety of natural products designed to eliminate toxins. It also replenishes the body with nutritional supplements containing well-known natural products such as aloe vera and bee pollen. The Clean 9 Program is a good and reliable detox package that will start you on an effective long-term weight loss program. Clean 9 will definitely put you on the path to optimum total wellness.