Soda taxes, soft drink consumption, and children's body mass index.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Sturm R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2864626 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Soda taxes, soft drink consumption, and children's body mass index.
Sturm Roland R Powell Lisa M LM Chriqui Jamie F JF Chaloupka Frank J FJ
Health affairs (Project Hope) 20100401 5
Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages have been proposed to combat obesity. Using data on state sales taxes for soda and individual-level data on children, we examine whether small taxes are likely to change consumption and weight gain or whether larger tax increases would be needed. We find that existing taxes on soda, which are typically not much higher than 4 percent in grocery stores, do not substantially affect overall levels of soda consumption or obesity rates. We do find, however, that subg ...[more]
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