An article in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that imposing a tax on sodas and sports drinks could reduce consumption by more than 10 percent, raise $1.2 billion a year in New York State alone and help prevent obesity and diabetes.
 
The article, called “Ounces of Prevention – The Public Policy for Taxes on Sugared Beverages,” was authored by New York’s health commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Kelly D. Brownell, the director of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
 
“It is difficult to imagine producing behavior change of this magnitude through education alone, even if government devoted massive resources to the task. Only heftier taxes will significantly reduce consumption,” said the article, published in the journal’s April 30 issue and released online Wednesday.
 
The American Beverage Association opposes such a measure, saying it would have no effect on obesity and amounts to a “hapless” tax scheme that consumers would not accept.
 
“We agree that obesity is a serious and complex problem. It defies both science and common sense, however, to think singling out one product as a unique contributor to obesity will make a dent in the problem,” the association said in a statement.
 
But Dr. Frieden and Dr. Bronwell argue that a tax on soda would be an effective way to reduce that 79 billion dollars spent on obesity- and overweight-related health care in the United States every year.

They also added that beverages now account for up to 15 percent of the calories consumed by American children and teenagers, citing evidence that for each extra can or glass of sugared drink they have per day, the chances of them becoming obese goes up by 60 percent.