Recently I received two emails referencing diabetes. One was from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation publishing the findings of a feasibility study of implementing a nationwide tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The other was from a client telling me about his major decrease in his A1C levels. Since we’re in the midst of an epidemic rise in Diabetes Type 2, I read both with great interest.
Studies are being done on taxing your SSBs. Taxes on sodas? Consider the cigarette tax: cigarettes were first taxed by our federal government in1862. Iowa became the first to levy taxes at a state level in 1921 and by 1969 all states were taxing cigarettes. Has this affected the amount of smokers? Yes. The greater the amount of tax increase, the greater the proportion of smokers who have stopped smoking. The same principle may apply to SSBs as well. [Read more…] about Taxes on Sodas?
