Study: Price Hikes Cut Soda, Pizza Intake

Price increases in soda and fatty foods might lead people to consume less of them, a new study concludes. The study included more than 5,000 young adult Americans. Researchers studied their eating habits for 20 years. They also kept track of food prices in the areas where the people lived. In that time, people drank less soda and ate less pizza as prices increased. If prices rose 10%, calories consumed from soda fell by 7% and calories from pizza fell 12%. A $1 increase in the price of soda was linked to 124 fewer soda calories per day. Researchers estimated that an 18% tax on soda would lead to an average of 56 fewer calories consumed daily per person. This number of calories is equal to a weight loss of about 5 pounds per year, they said. Study results were published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. USA Today wrote about the study March 9.