Study Indicates State "Soda Tax" Could Reduce Obesity
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
The city's Department of Health says a proposed tax on sugary drinks could be good for New Yorkers.
New research indicates that over the next decade, a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could prevent 145,000 or more cases of adult obesity and over 37,000 cases of type-2 diabetes.
In return, that would save state residents an estimated $2 billion in health care costs.
The study was conducted by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and supported by the Fund for Public Health in New York.
Governor David Paterson has been pushing this tax as a way of combating a $9.2 billion budget gap in the next fiscal year.
In its current form, the proposal would place an excise tax of one cent per ounce on soft drinks and eliminate state and local sales tax on bottled water and soft drinks with 10 or fewer calories per eight fluid ounces.
Opponents say the measure unfairly targets the beverage industry and burdens families.
To view the complete results of the study, go to nyc.gov/health/obesity.