Can a one-cent-per-ounce tax on Coke and Pepsi really reduce the high rates of obesity, heart disease, strokes and diabetes in our country? Yes say the authors of a recent joint study published in the journal Health Affairs. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco calculate that just a penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and other sweetened beverages could prevent 100,000 cases of heart disease and 8,000 strokes every year.
Among the study’s findings:
1) Overall consumption of sugary drinks could drop by 15 percent among adults ages 15-64.
2) The tax was estimated to prevent 2.4 million diabetes, 95,000 coronary heart events, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 premature deaths between 2010 and 2020.
3) More than $17 billion in medical costs during 2010-2020 could be saved.
Read the study: A Penny-Per-Ounce Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Would Cut Health and Cost Burdens of Diabetes
Read a related Center study on the link between soda and obesity.
Tags: Medical Costs, Soda
