Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages To Curb Obesity, Travis A. Smith, Biing-Hwan Lin, Rosanna Mentzer Morrison, September 2010
“Obesity among the U.S. population has increased markedly over the past three decades. Two-thirds of U.S. adults are now either overweight or obese, and growing numbers of children are overweight as well. Studies by nutritionists and epidemiologists suggest that consuming beverages sweetened with sucrose (sugar) and/or high-fructose and other corn syrups is linked to risks for obesity and diabetes. Many public health advocates are calling for taxes on these caloric sweetened beverages as a way to reduce consumption and raise revenue for obesity-prevention programs. USDA’s Economic Research Service researchers analyzed the effects of a hypothetical tax on caloric sweetened soft drinks, fruit drinks, powdered mixes, and energy and sports drinks. The researchers found that a 20-percent tax on these beverages purchased at grocery stores and restaurants could trigger changes in consumption that would result in an average reduction of 37 calories a day for adults, which translates into a loss of 3.8 pounds of body weight over a year. The estimated decreases for children averaged 43 calories a day, or 4.5 pounds over a year.”
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