Could A Soda Tax in California Improve Kids’ Health?
As California legislators coming back from their holiday break prepare to consider a controversial “soda tax,” a recent study examines how a statewide penny-an-ounce tax on sugary drinks might affect adults’ and kids’ health in the Golden State.
The study, published in the journal Public Library of Science One (PLOS), estimates that a penny-per-ounce tax could result in a 10-20% decline in statewide consumption of sodas, sports drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages. As frequent consumption of such drinks has been linked to child obesity, diabetes and heart disease, this decline is projected to result in a drop in new cases of diabetes and heart disease, yielding population health benefits and cost savings in California.
As Santa Cruz Sentinel reporter Jason Hoppin writes:
Researchers pegged the likeliest savings from reduced diabetes cases at $320 million to $620 million in 10 years. In some scenarios, that figure topped $1 billion when coronary heart disease was factored in…
…The impacts were particularly profound within minorities and low-income populations, which have been disproportionately affected by chronic diseases linked to dietary intake.
The PLOS study doesn’t differentiate between adults and children in terms of health impact, but statewide, an estimated 41% of children ages 2-17 drank one or more sugar-sweetened beverages every day, according to 2011-12 data on kidsdata.org.
More than 70 percent of African American and Latino children and youth ages 12-17 in California reported drinking one or more sugar-sweetened beverages every day, compared to 56 percent of white children in the same age group.
To see California kids’ consumption of sugary drinks at the county and state levels – as well as diabetes-related hospitalizations and figures on healthy weight – check out these indicators on kidsdata.org:
Children Drinking One or More Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Per Day (County Level Data)
By Age and Race/Ethnicity (California Only)
Students Who Are at a Healthy Weight or Underweight, by Grade Level (2011-2012)
by Race/Ethnicity and Grade Level
Diabetes-related Hospitalizations, By County
Posted by kidsdata.org
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