Obesity is a major problem, many people are exposed to health problems which usually as a result of this, one major cause? An excess amount of sugar, often sugary drinks. Many argue exercising can solve this problem, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Diet has a massive role in one's own health, more than exercise, and a huge part of the typical American diet has lots of sugar. Moreover, sugar is easily accessible and much more affordable than healthy organic alternatives. Will taxing sugary drinks help reduce these problems? Will this lower the consumption of sugary drinks and drastically reduce type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, and obesity?
Reducing accessibility is the first step to take. New York State’s health commissioner, Dr. Richard …show more content…
Sugary drinks are a great way to quench someone's thirst right? It tastes good! One can of soda is pretty harmless right? Well, wrong! Being obsessed is not only aesthetically unpleasant but unhealthy and can ultimately lead to death! Take that into consideration but apply it to children, young children who are barely starting their lives and deserve a happy and healthy life. Throughout the world, obesity has doubled between the years 1980 and 2014 and an estimated amount of 42 million children under the age of 5 are either overweight or obese in the year 2015, that number keeps getting larger year by year. What's the culprit? Sugary drinks. Many parents give their children easy access to sodas and juices every day. It's harmless they think. In middle schools and high schools, these sugary drinks are also easily available through the snack bars. Overtime sugar particles can attach to a blood vessels wall and overtime clog it and harden up. When blood can't get through a vein or artery, many things can go wrong, for example, a simple heart attack, a basic stroke, and if left unattended can cause death. Not only is the cardiovascular system at risk, the pancreas can overtime become forced and eventually stop producing enough insulin to stop sugar levels from going overboard or dropping to low levels. This is how type 2 diabetes happens. People who consume sugary drinks on a daily basis have a 26% chance of developing diabetes. The number of people with diabetes has also …show more content…
Sadly, people in the lower economic tiers of the population and young people or children are the ones who mostly consume sugary drinks. In January of 2014 in Mexico, a tax on sugary drinks was brought up, 1 peso per liter, after a year in effect, in the beginning, a 6% drop was reported, by December of 2014, families in the lower tiers were reported to have a drop of 17% in purchases of sugary drinks and 12% for the rest of the population. There was a 4% increase in untaxed drinks such as bottled water, in summary, it proved to be successful and young people and poorer people alike got the best health benefits from taxes. Health care is extremely expensive here in the United States. Taxing sugary drinks can actually save Healthcare costs. It is estimated that in a span of a decade the penny-an-ounce tax could save about more than $17 billion in healthcare costs? Imagine how many people will benefit from that. This tax can also generate about $13 billion in annual tax revenues, this can be used to further promote the health of the country's entire population. This will not only solely benefit the US. It can be used in other countries as well and boost their economies and health of their people, and since many countries invest into ours, it's a win-win situation, it will further improve the US'. All of this and introducing incentives that lower the prices of fruits and vegetables will contribute to a
Reducing accessibility is the first step to take. New York State’s health commissioner, Dr. Richard …show more content…
Sugary drinks are a great way to quench someone's thirst right? It tastes good! One can of soda is pretty harmless right? Well, wrong! Being obsessed is not only aesthetically unpleasant but unhealthy and can ultimately lead to death! Take that into consideration but apply it to children, young children who are barely starting their lives and deserve a happy and healthy life. Throughout the world, obesity has doubled between the years 1980 and 2014 and an estimated amount of 42 million children under the age of 5 are either overweight or obese in the year 2015, that number keeps getting larger year by year. What's the culprit? Sugary drinks. Many parents give their children easy access to sodas and juices every day. It's harmless they think. In middle schools and high schools, these sugary drinks are also easily available through the snack bars. Overtime sugar particles can attach to a blood vessels wall and overtime clog it and harden up. When blood can't get through a vein or artery, many things can go wrong, for example, a simple heart attack, a basic stroke, and if left unattended can cause death. Not only is the cardiovascular system at risk, the pancreas can overtime become forced and eventually stop producing enough insulin to stop sugar levels from going overboard or dropping to low levels. This is how type 2 diabetes happens. People who consume sugary drinks on a daily basis have a 26% chance of developing diabetes. The number of people with diabetes has also …show more content…
Sadly, people in the lower economic tiers of the population and young people or children are the ones who mostly consume sugary drinks. In January of 2014 in Mexico, a tax on sugary drinks was brought up, 1 peso per liter, after a year in effect, in the beginning, a 6% drop was reported, by December of 2014, families in the lower tiers were reported to have a drop of 17% in purchases of sugary drinks and 12% for the rest of the population. There was a 4% increase in untaxed drinks such as bottled water, in summary, it proved to be successful and young people and poorer people alike got the best health benefits from taxes. Health care is extremely expensive here in the United States. Taxing sugary drinks can actually save Healthcare costs. It is estimated that in a span of a decade the penny-an-ounce tax could save about more than $17 billion in healthcare costs? Imagine how many people will benefit from that. This tax can also generate about $13 billion in annual tax revenues, this can be used to further promote the health of the country's entire population. This will not only solely benefit the US. It can be used in other countries as well and boost their economies and health of their people, and since many countries invest into ours, it's a win-win situation, it will further improve the US'. All of this and introducing incentives that lower the prices of fruits and vegetables will contribute to a