The 100-Calorie Secret - Never Diet Again!

Drs.Kelly Brownell and Thomas Freiden of Yale University propose adding substantial taxes to sugary drinks to reduce consumption. The authors write “Sugar-sweetened beverage may be the single largest driver of the obesity epidemic. A recent meta-analysis found that the "intake of sugared beverages is associated with increased body weight, poor nutrition, and displacement of more healthful beverages; increasing consumption increases risk for obesity and diabetes...”menise

The report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 8, 2009, continues…”For each extra can or glass of sugared beverage consumed per day, the likelihood of a child's becoming obese increases by 60%” relating experiences with tobacco taxes, they point out “ that for every 10% increase in price, consumption decreases by 7.8%.... 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%...even  if one quarter of the calories consumed from sugared beverages are replaced by other food, the decrease in consumption would lead to an estimated reduction of 8000 calories per person per year — slightly more than 2 lb each year for the average person." The authors point out that the income could be used to further control childhood obesity.

"A penny-per-ounce excise tax could reduce consumption of sugared beverages by more than 10%. It is difficult to imagine producing behavior change of this magnitude through education alone, even if government devoted massive resources to the task. In contrast, a sales tax on sugared drinks would generate considerable revenue, and as with the tax on tobacco, it could become a key tool in efforts to improve health."

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