This isn’t the first time people have entertained the idea of taxing unhealthy foods. The thought has always been that imposing a tax on foods that directly contribute to the obesity epidemic (such as soda or other sugar sweetened beverages) could discourage their intake and therefore improve the problem. I’ve always personally believed that people would still continue to buy the unhealthy foods regardless of the tax. However, a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that as the price of soda and pizza went up, their overall intake went down.
This 20 year study aimed to explore the associations between food price, dietary intake, overall calorie intake and weight. Over 5,000 participants from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study were included. Researchers found that a 10% increase in the price of soda and pizza was associated with a 7% and 12% decrease in the calories eaten from these foods respectively. They also discovered that a $1.00 increase in the price of soda was associated with a lower daily calorie intake, lower weight and improved insulin resistance and that a $1.00 increase in the price of both soda and pizza was associated with even greater changes in these measures.
According to an article published in Science Daily, “researchers estimate that an 18-percent tax on these foods would result in a decline of roughly 56 calories per person per day”. That adds up to five pounds at the end of the year. That might not seem like a lot, but we already know that even small amounts of weight loss improve overall health and decrease the risk of developing obesity-related diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.
This is one of the first studies of its kind to really look at these relationships. I think it will be very interesting to follow new developments and to see how lawmakers use this information in the fight against obesity. They’ve tried it before with cigarettes and that didn’t seem to have much of an impact. Foodminds, a food and nutrition company out of Chicago, recently conducted a survey of 1045 adult shoppers and found that 65% of them were opposed to taxes on soft drinks and foods high in sugar and calories, but low in nutritional value.
I want to believe a tax could help, but I have to say I’m still pretty skeptical. Even if a tax was imposed, I think we need to stay focused on educating people from a young age on the importance of good nutrition and physical activity, parents need to lead by example and the government and food companies have to make healthy food desirable, affordable and readily available if we are ever really going to fix the problem.
Tell me what you think. Would an 18% tax on unhealthy items like soda make you buy them less? If healthy foods like fruits and vegetables were more “affordable” would you buy more of them?
- Lauren
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Labels: Lauren, Recent Research, Weight Loss
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