Naysayers will argue that education is all that is needed, and I agree that it can play a key role. Americans should better understand the effects of unhealthy eating, and reporting these effects can have an impact. A well-organized documentary with chilling facts can definitely pack a punch. So yes, better health education can help raise awareness about obesity, but at the same time taxing unhealthy foods would have an even greater effect. For example, in 1998, the United States settled numerous lawsuits with the tobacco industry, resulting in tobacco companies agreeing to fund anti-smoking campaigns and reduce their marketing. Now let's look at the facts: “more than half of all Americans who once smoked have quit, and smoking rates are about half what they were in the 1960s” (Bittman). Once the government stepped in and took some actions against tobacco companies, change started to happen. Yes, this went hand in hand with the anti-smoking campaigns and health education that children and adults receive, but since these efforts were already in place (but did not have much effect), much of the credit can go to the government for taking a