Glucose, sucrose, high fructose!
Sugar, you guys.
It's all so....taxing.
Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews.
Amidst all of the sensationalism about the "obesity epidemic", there lies a very important
nugget of information: Americans now consume 39% more added sugars in our food than we
did 50 years ago.
Particularly, we consume waaaaay more high fructose corn syrup.
This is why some experts say that sugary drinks like soda, energy drinks, and fruit juice
cocktails are driving their own public health issues.
This has led scientists to try to figure out how we can better curb our consumption of
these sugary beverages, and one of the ways that has been proposed is: higher taxes.
Now even SAYING the word "tax" is generally divisive one here in the good ol' U-S-of-A,
but a new study has found that a soda tax might actually come with health benefits.
An international study based at the Health Economics Centre at Monash University concluded
that by upping the taxes on soda, people will lose weight -- as much as 8 POUNDS in a year
for those who drink a lot of it.
In their analysis, they compared the economic effect of 2 types of taxes: the first was
a 20% tax and the second was a 20 CENT tax per liter of soda.
Both taxes are regressive, which basically means it affects the poor more than the wealthy,
but those effects aren't overly pronounced in the study.
With a 20% tax, the effect impacts all consumption levels with a similar force, whereas the benefit
of a 20 CENT tax is that the tax burden increases when you buy more of the drinks.
For the 20% tax, people are projected to lose about 3 pounds, or 1.3 kilos, in a year.
Those who drink A LOT of soda could see that number doubled.
The 20 cent tax had a more dramatic effect, kicking off an 8 pound weight loss, or 3.6
kilos, in a year.
This was only for the middle class though.
Why?
Researchers at Duke found that for the rich, they're still gonna buy the soda either way.
For the poor, they're more likely to strategize -- things like buying in bulk or waiting for
sales.
So for both these groups, the health effects aren't as likely to kick in as the middle
class.
While these studies both find some health benefits, other studies have found that taxes
WON'T encourage healthier habits.
A recent study by health economists at the University of Iowa found that just because
people are drinking less soda doesn't mean that they won't find more calories elsewhere.
So, what do YOU think about a soda tax?
Is it worthwhile if there's a public health benefit?
Or should people be encouraged to drink less soda on their own -- without the deterrence
caused by taxes?
Let me know what you think down below, and we'll be back soon with more DNews updates.