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Could Tax on Soft Drinks Curb Obesity? An overweight or obese person would have a much higher chance of developing diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke and even certain kinds of cancer. Of course, there are many factors that could lead to overweight or even obesity. Unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, spending too much time on watching television or playing with computers is just a few good examples. In a recent paper published on September 16, 2009 in the New England Journal of Medicine, health experts in the United States warned that people are drinking more sweet drinks and the obesity rate is surging. They pointed out in the report that the intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks for all age groups in Mexico increased by 2 folds between 1999 and 2006. They suggested imposing tax on soft drinks as they believed such tax could not only curb obesity rate but also be used to fund public health efforts. In their proposal, an excise tax of 1 percent per ounce should be imposed for any beverages that have any sugar content. Studies have shown taxes could actually cut consumption by about 1 gram of sugar per ounce. According to their calculation, a tax of 1 cent per ounce of beverage would increase the cost of a 20-ounce soft drink by 15 o 20 percent. This in turn would lead to a 10 percent drop in consumption, which is enough to affect the weight. For a person consuming a conventional soft drink (20 ounce or 591 milliliters) every day, this means he or she would consume approximately 174 fewer calories per day when switching to a beverage with the suggested lower sugar content.
The health experts reiterated that reducing caloric intake by 1 percent to 2 percent per year would have a noticeable impact on health for people in all age groups. They insisted that the current taxes on soft drinks just do not go far enough to affect health. Currently, 33 states in the United States have sales taxes on soft drinks (mean tax rate 5.2 percent). However, such taxes seemed to be too small to affect consumption and the revenues generated are not utilized for health related programs. According to the estimation made by the Congressional Budget Office in December 2008, a tax of 3 cents on every 12-ounce (355-milliliter) can of soda could raise $50 billion over the next 10 years. The taxes on tobacco products are routine at both state and federal levels as they generate revenue and they also confer a health benefit with respect to smoking rates. Likewise, the experts believed that taxes on beverages helping drive the obesity epidemic should and will become routine. Would such proposal encounter the opposition from beverage makers? The answer is definitely yes! While agreeing that obesity is a public health issue, the opposers do not think that the proposal would really work, as they believe reducing obesity rate could only be dealt with through comprehensive solutions. Anticipating such argument, the researchers admitted in their paper that taxes would not educate people especially children to live in a healthy lifestyle. Just like legislation on seat belt and taxation on cigarette do not eliminate traffic accidents and heart disease, but they are still good policies. In fact, the American Heart Association had indicated last month that soft drinks are the top source of sugar calories and recommended that American should cut down dramatically on sugar intake. Meanwhile, an industry group called Americans Against Food Taxes, backed by several beverage makers and fast food operators, has been formed to fight against such a tax proposal. It seems that the fight would continue until the possible legislation is finalized. But whether such legislation, if implemented, would help curb obesity rate is yet to be seen.
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