Sodas, sports beverages and energy drinks often contain large quantities of sugar, which is contributing to the fact that two-thirds of adults are either overweight or obese. But if the government taxed these drinks, the higher costs of buying them would encourage some Americans to consider less expensive, and healthier options, such as bottled water, juice, coffee, tea, or milk.

 

The Economic Research Service found that a tax that increased the price of sweetened beverages by 20% would cause adults to consume 37 fewer calories a day, and children 43 calories per day. This caloric reduction “would translate into an average reduction of 3.8 pounds over a year for adults and 4.5 pounds over a year for children,” according to the report’s summary.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages: Potential Effects on Beverage Consumption, Calorie Intake, and Obesity (Economic Research Service)

Report: Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages: Potential Effects on Beverage Consumption, Calorie Intake, and Obesity (by Travis A. Smith, Biing-Hwan Lin, and Jonq-Ying Lee, Economic Research Service) (pdf)

Taxing Soft Drinks to Pay for Their Cost to Society (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)