How many lives could a soda tax save?

(Press-News.org) Every year, Americans drink 13.8 billion gallons of soda, fruit punch, sweet tea, sports drinks, and other sweetened beverages—a mass consumption of sugar that is fueling soaring obesity and diabetes rates in the United States.

Now a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) and Columbia University have analyzed the effect of a nationwide tax on these sugary drinks.

They estimate slapping a penny-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages would prevent nearly 100,000 cases of heart disease, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 deaths every year.

"You would also prevent 240,000 cases of diabetes per year," said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and acting director of the Center for Vulnerable Populations at SFGH.

In addition to $13 billion in direct tax revenue, Bibbins-Domingo and her colleagues estimated that such a tax would save the public $17 billion per year in healthcare-related expenses due to the decline of obesity-related diseases.

"Our hope is that these types of numbers are useful for policy makers to weigh decisions," she said.

The High Cost of High Calorie Drinks

Consumption of beverages high in calories but poor in nutritional value is the number one source of added sugar and excess calories in the American diet. Sugar- sweetened drinks are linked to type 2 diabetes and weight gain.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed reducing the intake of these beverages as one of its chief obesity prevention strategies in 2009, and several states and cities, including California and New York City, are already considering such taxes.

The analysis by Bibbins-Domingo and her colleagues is among the first study to generate concrete estimates of the health benefits and cost savings of such a tax. They modeled these benefits by taking into account how many sodas and sugary beverages Americans drink every year and estimating how much less they would consume if a penny-per-ounce tax were imposed on these drinks. Economists have estimated that such a tax would reduce consumption by 10 to 15 percent over a decade.

They then modeled how this reduction would play out in terms of reducing the burdens of diabetes, heart disease and their associated healthcare costs.

INFORMATION:

The article, "A Penny-Per-Ounce Tax On Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Would Cut Health And Cost Burdens Of Diabetes," by Y. Claire Wang, Pamela Coxson, Yu-Ming Shen, Lee Goldman and Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo appears in the January issue of Health Affairs. See: http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0410

This work was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Heart Association, Western States Affiliate.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Related Information:

U.S. Consumption of Sweet Beverages

13,800,000,000 gallons—total amount consumed by Americans in 2009 45 gallons—average U.S. consumption per person per year 17 teaspoons—the amount of sugar in a typical 22-oz sweet drink 70,000 calories—the average amount every American consumes per year in sweetened beverages Source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0410

Diabetes in the United States

25,800,000—number of Americans who have diabetes 8.3—percentage of the U.S. population affected $174,000,000,000—annual cost of diabetes in the United States. 7th—leading cause of death in the United States Source: CDC

Related Links:

UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations at SFGH http://cvp.ucsf.edu/

CA Diabetes Program http://www.caldiabetes.org

Related Stories: Sugar Is a Poison, Says UCSF Obesity Expert http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2009/06/8187/obesity-and-metabolic-syndrome-driven-fructose-sugar-diet

Sugary Drinks Are a Big Contributor to New Diabetes Cases, Researchers Say http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2010/03/5982/sugary-drinks-are-big-contributor-new-diabetes-cases-researchers-say

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