Major medical groups charge taxes on soft drinks

MONDAY, March 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) – Two medical groups have declared war on soft drinks and energy drinks by demanding taxes on what has become the main source of sugar in the diet of children and adolescents.

In a new joint policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have also recommended many other public policies all aimed at reducing the consumption of unhealthy beverages.

This is the first time that the AAP advocates such a tax.

"Sugary drinks account for more than half of the sugar intake in children's diets and have no nutritional value.These are mostly sugar water," said Natalie pediatrician Muth, lead author of the policy statement.

Excess sugar in the children's diet has contributed to an epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, said Avigdor Arad, director of Mount Sinai PhysioLab, in New York.

According to the statement, it also increases the risk of tooth decay, heart disease, fatty liver and death in children and adolescents.

"An average child consumes about 30 pounds of sugar from sweetened beverages a year, which is enough to fill a small tub," said Muth, a California pediatrician and chair of the chapter's communications committee. obesity of the PAA. "We're not talking about a little problem here, or a small amount of drink consumption – it's a huge amount."

Evidence has shown that additional taxes would reduce the consumption of a product, said Muth, highlighting how tobacco and alcohol taxes have worked well to reduce consumption.

In addition, some places in the United States and elsewhere have already implemented taxes on sweetened beverages and have seen their consumption drop dramatically.

Berkeley, California, introduced the country's first soft drink tax in 2014, and in just a few months, soft drinks purchases fell 21 percent, according to a February report. American Journal of Public Health. Three years later, 52% fewer drinks containing sugar were sold and water consumption increased by 29%.

"With growing evidence that some policy measures can be quite effective in reducing sugar consumption, we felt that it was time to get a message across and put in place a policy that actually advocated for these measures," he said. Muth.

The PAA / AHA policy statement recommends that:

• Local, national and national authorities plan to increase the price of sweetened beverages, either through excise taxes or other means.
• Federal and state governments support efforts to block the marketing of sugary drinks to children and adolescents.
• Children's menus and vending machines offer water, milk and other healthy beverages by default.
• Federal nutrition badistance programs focus on access to healthy foods and beverages and discourage sugary drinks.
• Access will be improved for nutrition information on labels, restaurant menus and advertisements.
• Hospitals serve as role models in setting policies to limit or discourage the purchase of sugary drinks.

Arad agreed that taxes on sodas and sugary drinks were likely to work.

"It worked with tobacco years ago," said Arad. "I think we are going in the right direction."

Medical groups have focused on sugary drinks as it has proven more difficult to study the health effects of added sugars in food products, Muth said.

"The food tends to have other nutrients," said Muth. "The evidence is not as narrow on the impact on overall health as it is on sugary drinks, the evidence was stronger and the problem worse with drinks, with what we need to work on at this point."

In general, consumers do not seem to think that drinks are a source of calories, said Arad.

"People do not think of drinks as food," he added. "They consume it quickly and in large quantities."

Americans are advised not to consume more than 3 teaspoons of added sugar a day, Arad said.

But the average can of sweet soda contains between 7 and 10 teaspoons of sugar, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Sports drinks can contain between 7 and 12 teaspoons of sugar, fruit punches between 8 and 14 teaspoons and iced teas up to 8 teaspoons.

"The body is not really meant to handle such amounts of pure sugar," Arad said.

AAP and AHA noted that taxes on sodas had reduced consumption in Berkeley and Philadelphia, as well as additional revenues used in localities such as San Francisco and Seattle to fund services. preventive health programs, programs to help low-income people purchase healthy food and school grants. increase the portions of fruits and vegetables.

The policy statement was published online on March 25 in the journal pediatrics.

More information

The Harvard T.H. Chan's public health school has more on sugary drinks.