The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that a sugar tax may be an effective way to curb the growing epidemic of diabetes that is plaguing the world.
WHO addressed numerous policy recommendations for improving nutrition, detailing the evidence for and against the proposed implementation in a report titled: Fiscal Policies for Diet and Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases. The authors of the report believe that a 20 percent increase in the price of soft drinks would curb consumption of sugary drinks and dramatically result in the collective improvement of peoples’ health.
Mexico, a country that implemented such a tax in 2014 added one peso (.06 USD) to every liter of soda pop noted a six percent decrease in sales of such soft drinks, while a four percent increase in the sale of water and other non-sugary drinks occurred.
WHO insists that sugar drinks are a major factor in the global increase of people plagued by obesity and diabetes. Dr. Douglas Bettcher, the director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of Noncommmunicable Diseases said, “If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives. They can also cut healthcare costs and increase revenues to invest in health services.”
Mexico, a country that implemented such a tax in 2014 added one peso (.06 USD) to every liter of soda pop noted a six percent decrease in sales of such soft drinks, while a four percent increase in the sale of water and other non-sugary drinks occurred.
Dr. Francesco Branco, the director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development notes that nutritionally, people don’t need any sugar in their diet. “WHO recommends that if people do consume free sugars, they keep their intake below ten percent of their total energy needs and reduce it to five percent for additional health benefits.”
Another WHO recommendation centers on subsidizing the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables by 10 to 30 percent to ensure healthy eating becomes more affordable and to use the money gathered from a tax on sugary drinks to fund obesity and diabetes programs.
