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November 8th, 2016 is an important day for health advocates and the beverage industry alike as voters line up in four cities to decide on taxing sugary beverages.
Sugary beverages have been tested by various researchers and found to be linked to higher risks for heart disease, type two diabetes and more in those who consume these beverages daily and now not only are health organizations like the American Heart Association supporting sugary beverage taxes, but also wealthy health advocates like Michael Bloomberg and Laura and John Arnold.
On the other hand, the beverage industries are also fighting back against the taxes, spending over thirty million to lobby and campaign against these tax initiatives.
As rising rates of obesity take over the nation, many cities are educating consumers about the unhealthy risks of drinking sugary beverages, but only Berkely, Calif. and Philadelphia, Pa. has managed to implement a tax on soda.
The cities that will be voting on the tax measures tomorrow include, San Francisco, Oakland, and Albany, California as well as Boulder, Colorado.
There are also discussions around soda taxes in Cook County, Illinois, Watsonville, Calif. and also in West Virginia.
Latino kids are often, unfortunately, a target for unhealthy food and beverage marketing and consume more sugary beverages than their peer’s studies show. However, research also shows that implementing healthier beverage choices in schools and communities and using pricing disincentives, such as sugary drink taxes, have been proposed to lower consumption of sugary drinks—including soda, sports and energy drinks, fruit juices and fruit drinks that contain less than 100 percent juice, and flavored milk.
To learn more about sugary beverages and how to get involved in reducing sugary beverage consumption among Latino youth, click here!
By The Numbers
74
percent
of Latino kids have had a sugary drink by age 2 (vs. 45% of white kids)
