{"id":1438,"date":"2009-04-09T18:26:20","date_gmt":"2009-04-09T16:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2015-02-14T17:49:50","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T22:49:50","slug":"taxing-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/taxing-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"A Taxing Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

An editorial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine lays out the “Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages<\/a>.”\u00a0 The piece, by Kelly Brownell, Ph.D.\u00a0and Thomas Friedan, M.D., M.P.H.\u00a0 makes several salient points:<\/p>\n

Sugared beverages are marketed extensively to children and adolescents, and in the mid-1990s, children’s intake of sugared beverages surpassed that of milk. In the past decade, per capita intake of calories from sugar-sweetened beverages has increased by nearly 30% (see bar graph)3<\/sup>; beverages now account for 10 to 15% of the calories consumed by children and adolescents. For each extra can or glass of sugared beverage consumed per day, the likelihood of a child’s becoming obese increases by 60%.4<\/sup><\/p>\n

Taxes on tobacco products have been highly effective in reducing consumption, and data indicate that higher prices also reduce soda consumption. A review conducted by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity suggested that for every 10% increase in price, consumption decreases by 7.8%. An industry trade publication reported even larger reductions: as prices of carbonated soft drinks increased by 6.8%, sales dropped by 7.8%, and as Coca-Cola prices increased by 12%, sales dropped by 14.6%.5<\/sup> Such studies \u2014 and the economic principles that support their findings \u2014 suggest that a tax on sugared beverages would encourage consumers to switch to more healthful beverages, which would lead to reduced caloric intake and less weight gain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Naturally, the soda industry doesn’t like the idea…<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Susan Neely, president and CEO for the American Beverage Association, released a statement in response to the article and said they agree that obesity is a big problem, but cited a National Institute of Health study indicating all calories count, whether they come in a can, bottle, bag or as a big plate of greasy, salty fries.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaxing these products won’t make an ounce of difference in reducing obesity. But these taxes will inflict serious pain to hard-working families, who face higher costs at the store and the risk of losing their job all in the middle of a devastating recession,\u201d Neely wrote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ll concede this to Neely: all calories DO count, although her comment about “serious pain to hard-working families”\u00a0rings pretty\u00a0hollow.\u00a0 Hard-working families could save themselves\u00a0even more\u00a0money by NOT BUYING THE STUFF AT ALL\u00a0 This is, of course, the point of the tax: to provide a disincentive to consumption.\u00a0 As Kelly Brownell points out: “…\u201cthe poor could most benefit from reduced consumption because they\u2019re most vulnerable to obesity and diabetes.”<\/p>\n

Brownell 1; Neely 0.<\/p>\n

It may seem unfair to tax sodas and not – say – candy or potato chips…and I\u00a0can’t argue with that: it IS unfair.\u00a0 Then again, so are a lot of\u00a0public policies and issues\u00a0that folks like Neely\u00a0aren’t losing any sleep over.\u00a0\u00a0And the evidence that\u00a0sugar-sweetened beverage consumption\u00a0and obesity are linked is piling up.\u00a0\u00a0For example, here’s the latest\u00a0from Columbia University<\/a>…<\/p>\n

\n

April 6, 2009– Replacing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with water could eliminate an average of 235 excess calories per day among children and adolescents, according to a study published in the April 2009 Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine<\/em>. The study\u2019s authors conclude that such a replacement would be a simple and effective way to reduce excess intake of calories causing childhood overweight and obesity, as well as address dental cavities and other health problems associated with added sugar. And they predict no detrimental effects on nutrition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence is now clear that replacing these \u2018liquid calories\u2019 with calorie-free beverage alternatives both at home and in schools represents a key strategy to eliminate excess calories and prevent childhood obesity,\u201d said Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the study\u2019s lead author.<\/p>\n

…No data suggest that youths increase their consumption of other foods and beverages to compensate for drinking fewer SSBs, and so every can of soda or fruit drink that is replaced by water means a net reduction of calories.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Not to mention\u00a0this\u00a0recent study\u00a0from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health<\/a>…<\/p>\n

\n

When it comes to weight loss, what you drink may be more important than what you eat, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Researchers examined the relationship between beverage consumption among adults and weight change and found that weight loss was positively associated with a reduction in liquid calorie consumption and liquid calorie intake had a stronger impact on weight than solid calorie intake.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth liquid and solid calories were associated with weight change, however, only a reduction in liquid calorie intake was shown to significantly affect weight loss during the 6-month follow up,\u201d said Benjamin Caballero MD, PhD, senior author of the study and a professor with the Bloomberg School\u2019s Department of International Health.\u00a0 \u201cA reduction in liquid calorie intake was associated with a weight loss of 0.25 kg at 6 months and 0.24 kg at 18 months. Among sugar-sweetened beverages, a reduction of 1 serving was associated with a weight loss of 0.5 kg at 6 months and 0.7 kg at 18 months.\u00a0 Of the seven types of beverages examined, sugar-sweetened beverages were the only beverages significantly associated with weight change.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think it goes without saying that the proceeds of such a tax – which would raise an estimated 1.2 billion in New York State alone <\/a>– should be used for nutrition and public health programs.\u00a0 This\u00a0would make it a “win-win” proposition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under the circumstances, I think it’s certainly a measure worth exploring.\u00a0 Sure, as a stand alone measure, it’s hardly a cure for the obesity epidemic.\u00a0 But it’s a place to start…and it sure as hell beats doing nothing at all.\u00a0 We’re already doing that – and it’s clearly not working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An editorial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine lays out the “Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages.”\u00a0 The piece, by Kelly Brownell, Ph.D.\u00a0and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,14,17,24,28],"tags":[117,494,978,1166,1169,1863,1503,1560,1652],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8620,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions\/8620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}