Paul Goble
Staunton, June 1 – Approximately 60 percent of Russians are overweight, according to experts; and some Duma deputies say these excess pounds are preventing the Russian economy from growing as fast as it could and are driving up death rates and thus leading to the country’s depopulation.
Last week, KPRF Duma deputy Irina Filatov said that overweight Russians were more likely to suffer from diabetes and other diseases and thus are driving the death rate up, preventing Russia from achieving its demographic goals (nsn.fm/society/udar-po-demografii-v-gosdume-zayavili-chto-60-rossiyan-stradaut-ozhireniem).
Her solution – and it enjoys the support of other deputies in both the all-Russian and regional legislatures as well – is to impose special taxes on the overweight (nemoskva.net/2025/05/31/slishkom-zhirno-vlasti-zagovorili-o-tom-chto-v-problemah-ekonomiki-i-demografii-vinovaty-lyudi-s-lishnim-vesom/).
It is unlikely that this idea is going to go anywhere given how difficult and unpopular it would be, but calls like this are a clear indication of how worried many Russians are about demography and also how little confidence they have that any of the measures now being used to boost the birthrate and lower death rates are going to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment