Print“Although small, given the rising trend in obesity rates, especially among youth, any strategy that shows even modest weight loss should be considered”
Taxes targeting soda and other sugary drinks in the United States’ war on obesity would generate plenty of revenue, but fail to slim down people earning high and low incomes, a new study finds. Middle income Americans would lose the most weight of any group, but the results would still be modest at best.
Soda taxes have been contemplated from New York City to Washington D.C., where public health officials and some politicians have championed the idea as a tool to fight the nation’s growing obesity epidemic. However, few scientific studies have been enlisted in the debate until now.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, analyzed the impact on calories and weight of a 20 percent and 40 percent tax on sodas and other sweetened beverages. It predicts that a 20 percent sales tax on sugary beverages would generate about $1.5 billion per year in U.S. tax revenue, while a 40 percent tax would generate $2.5 billion per year. The researchers suggest extending the tax to restaurants and vending machines would generate more tax revenue and perhaps greater weight losses.
The lower tax would generate weight losses of no more than 0.7 pounds per year, the study says. Even with a higher tax, annual weight losses of up to just 1.3 pounds per person per year are predicted.
“Although small, given the rising trend in obesity rates, especially among youth, any strategy that shows even modest weight loss should be considered,” says Eric Finkelstein, associate professor at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School in an article published by Duke University Health System.
December 17, 2010
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-soda_taxes_fall_flat.html
.gif)
