Huffington Post: This Is Why The U.S. Is Failing To Tackle Childhood Obesity
“No country has reversed its obesity epidemic,” said Christina Roberto, assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “But we can learn from each other and watch the effects of these specific efforts.”
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Another potentially big step forward — that’s facing huge hurdles from corporate lobbying — is taxing sugary beverages, says Roberto. Drinking soda and other sugary drinks is a contributor to obesity, and research published this month suggests taxing sugar-sweetened drinks can cut down consumption and thereby reduce obesity rates and the number of new Type 2 diabetes cases.
Roberto and her colleagues found that after Philadelphia put a tax in place on sweetened beverages at the beginning of 2017, there was a 38% drop in sales. The tax has not been in place long enough to show a significant effect on obesity, Roberto said, but it’s likely that data collection over the next few years could be promising.
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“Showing an association between something like sugar reduction and obesity takes time,” she said. “We would also have to connect that reduction to the beverage tax, so right now we don’t have the data, but it’s likely we will in the future.”