A recent study published in JAMA Network Open investigates whether city-level sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation affects child and adolescent body mass index (BMI) values in California between 2009 and 2020. Study: City-Level Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes and Youth Body Mass Index Percentile . Image Credit: Daisy Daisy / Shutterstock.
com Are SSB taxes effective? In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) proposed economic solutions like SSB taxes to reduce the consumption of these beverages to prevent obesity among children and young adults. Previous studies examining the efficacy of public health strategies to reduce the consumption of SSBs among children and young adults have produced mixed outcomes; however, a tendency toward weight loss has been reported. Following taxation, SSB purchases and consumption decreased in several cities, which helped support public health and equality programs.
Nevertheless, the effect of these taxes on weight-related outcomes in children remains unclear. Understanding the potential efficacy of SSB taxation is crucial for towns contemplating imposing similar strategies to reduce overweight and obesity among children. About the study The researchers compared the effects of SSB tax implementation in Berkeley, Albany, San Francisco, and Oakland cities of California to 40 control cities.
Exposure and control cities were matched based on Euclidean distances of variables according to five-year averages of the United States Census Americ.