WILL TAXATION REDUCE SODA CONSUMPTION?-YES AND NO!

After the New York initiative to ban selling of sugar sweetened drinks with serving size beyond 16 ounces being taxed, many more cities are considering similar approach in tackling obesity among children who are the primary targets of the soda industry. The angst among the parents and policy makers is understandable when the stark statistics of soda consumption reveal a reality that cannot be brushed under the carpet any more. Is it not a horror when a city declares that more than half of its kid population are obese measured by the established yardsticks and on an average a kid gobbles up 1.8 units of soda each and every day? In the face of such a reality, can the community sit quiet and watch the emerging catastrophe without doing any thing? Probably such fiscal measures as being proposed or contemplated in many parts of USA should be viewed in this context. Whether such a policy will succeed in reversing the trend is another matter. At least these policy orchestrations must be given a chance to buck the trend. Here is a peep into the efforts of a community in California to stem the rot that was ushered in by the beverage industry. 

"As in other places, soda consumption is highest among teenagers, with more than two-thirds downing 1.8 sugar-sweetened beverages a day. Based on 242 calories a serving for a 20-ounce bottle of Coke, that equals roughly 150,000 extra calories and can lead to more than 20 pounds of weight gain a year, Dr. Brunner said. A recent study found an average of five retail food outlets within a quarter mile of every Richmond school. Alongside the announcement last week by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York supporting an outright ban on the sale of sweetened drinks larger than 16 ounces, the coming vote in Richmond may be a sign that soda and similar beverages are becoming the new tobacco in terms of public perception of health risks. "Both are pretty bold moves that wouldn't have been imaginable even five years ago," said Kelly M. Brownell, the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, which conducted much of the research supporting the efficacy of a one-cent beverage tax. "It shows that government is beginning to stand up to the food industry and there is more public support for doing so." If the Richmond ordinance passes, it will be the first of its kind in the country intended specifically to combat obesity. But soda taxes have failed elsewhere — most notably in Philadelphia, where Mayor Michael A. Nutter's attempts to impose a 2-cents-per-ounce charge on sugary drinks have sputtered twice. Nevertheless, Mr. Nutter is scheduled to be the keynote speaker this week at the nation's first Sugary Drinks Summit in Washington, sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest".

Many skeptics may feel that such measures will not work, given the past history when similar attempts in alcoholic beverages and tobacco did not bring much relief in curbing their consumption. With economic recession causing immense misery, especially among the low income group, probably such attempts to make soda costlier may succeed, at least to some extent. Some diversion of purchasing power from soda sector to other more pressing daily needs may have the effect of over all reduction of soda consumption but how far this change will impact on the health front is some what uncertain. One can only wish success to these types of earnest efforts at addressing the problem of obesity.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
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