Tax Urged on Sugar-Sweetened Drinks

A group of nutrition and economics experts has called for a new tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. It could help to reduce obesity and raise funds for health programs, they said. The proposal came in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it September 17. The authors included the surgeon general of Arkansas, the health commissioner of New York City and five academic experts. Studies show that women who consume more sugar-sweetened drinks also are more likely to be obese or have diabetes. The new proposal calls for a tax of 1 cent per fluid ounce. The tax could raise $15 billion in its first year, the group said. The tax is also could get people to cut back, they said. They estimated that soda drinkers would lose an average of two pounds a year.