Overweight and obesity have been one of the most troublesome problems in the USA over the past few years, with a big population of people both adults and children being either overweight or obese. Obesity has been known to lead to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, gout, arthritis and some types of cancer. Obesity has many causes but one of the main causes is over consumption of sugary drinks. A sugary drink also referred to as a soft drink is any beverage which has added sugar or any other sweeteners and includes soda, lemonade, fruit punch, sweetened powdered drinks, energy and sports drinks. Gallons of sugary drinks are consumed across America every month.
There is an ongoing battle happening across the country with activists and lawmakers pushing to put a cap on consumption of sugary drinks and one of the biggest lines of attack is imposing a sugary drink tax (also referred to as a soda tax) designed to reduce the consumption of sugary …show more content…
One of the major benefits is in reducing consumption of sugar and preventing obesity. A tax of twenty percent on sugary drinks can lead to a reduction in consumption of around twenty percent. Therefore placing an added tax on sugary drinks by the government does not necessarily take the freedom of choice away; the consumer can still purchase and drink a beverage of their choice albeit at a higher price. The difference in price, however, could propel consumers to make a healthier choice, for example, a shopper could choose to take a less sweetened drink with a lower price over their usual drink with more sweeteners added, an added tax and therefore a higher price. This healthy choice, in the long run, would be beneficial in reducing problems that come with being overweight and obese such as heart diseases and diabetes which are caused by over-consumption of
There is an ongoing battle happening across the country with activists and lawmakers pushing to put a cap on consumption of sugary drinks and one of the biggest lines of attack is imposing a sugary drink tax (also referred to as a soda tax) designed to reduce the consumption of sugary …show more content…
One of the major benefits is in reducing consumption of sugar and preventing obesity. A tax of twenty percent on sugary drinks can lead to a reduction in consumption of around twenty percent. Therefore placing an added tax on sugary drinks by the government does not necessarily take the freedom of choice away; the consumer can still purchase and drink a beverage of their choice albeit at a higher price. The difference in price, however, could propel consumers to make a healthier choice, for example, a shopper could choose to take a less sweetened drink with a lower price over their usual drink with more sweeteners added, an added tax and therefore a higher price. This healthy choice, in the long run, would be beneficial in reducing problems that come with being overweight and obese such as heart diseases and diabetes which are caused by over-consumption of