Should we have a tax on high sugar content food (8 Grams of sugar or higher per serving) to decrease obesity and other health related problems?

Testing purpose

Opinion: Pro Sugar Tax Eugenia

High-sugar diets are associated with numerous health problems and are linked with unhealthy behaviors like poor sleep and exercise habits. Adding a tax to sugary products like soft drinks, candies and processed snacks will help discourage the consumption of these dangerous, excess sugars.

Sugary beverages, one of the biggest culprits, are a tasty and affordable beverage option marketed to people in lower socio-economic status (SES) brackets, especially adolescents and teenagers who are at risk of developing poor life-long health and dietary habits.

While they tend to cost less, making them more affordable for lower-income individuals, the negative effects of sugary foods and drinks on health are overwhelming. A sugar tax will discourage the purchase of such products and encourage healthier habits, such as drinking water instead of soda and eating fresh fruit and vegetables instead of candy and processed snack foods.

While it can be argued that taxing such products will create a negative financial impact on low-income consumers, similar taxes already in effect have shown this not to be the case. A sugary-beverage tax (which includes soft drinks, sugary juices and many coffee drinks) went into effect in Berkeley in 2015, resulting in a 9.6% decrease in the purchase of such beverages in local grocery stores. Conversely, sales of beverages not affected by the tax increased by 3.5 % without any significant increase in overall spending totals on behalf of the consumer. This indicates that the tax encouraged consumers to make healthier beverage choices without negatively affecting their budgets.