Pro-tax: It’s a win-win

We can predict what is going to happen all day long, that this tax will or won’t decrease obesity, but the truth is experts in this field are all in disagreement. But for me, the bottom line is if there is a chance that we can help this increasing health issue of obesity, why not? Why not do something about it!

Dr. Thomas Frieden, the former New York City health commissioner, current head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and co-author of an article supporting tax on “sugared beverages” said in a conference on obesity that took place earlier this year:

"I think anything that increases the availability and decreases the relative price of healthy foods and anything that decreases the availability and increases the price of unhealthy foods is likely to be effective. The challenge, I think, is a political one of getting that approved as well as there are very important administrative and operational issues with implementation of such a tax."

We can only hope that this tax will cause people to re-think their choice in beverage and if it doesn’t work…which is a possibility…at least this money will be put towards things that will help the problems those beverages have caused.

"A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is really a double-win," said Dr. David Ludwig, a co-author of the paper and director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital, Boston. "We can raise much-needed dollars while likely reducing obesity prevalence, which is a major driver of health care costs, the paper states. Ultimately the government needs to raise more money to cover the deficit, and in terms of ways of raising that revenue, a tax on sugar sweetened beverages is really a no-brainer."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/leading-researchers-propose-tax-sugared-drinks/story?id=8594299