Professor Testifies on Sugary Drink Tax Bill.
Monica Wang, assistant professor of community health sciences, testified in support of the Promote Healthy Alternatives to Sugary Drinks Act before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue on May 7.
Filed by Senator Jason Lewis, the bill is the latest policy measure aimed at curbing children’s consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which health experts argue are linked to increases in obesity-related chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The bill would institute a three-tiered excise tax on sugary beverages such as soda and sports drinks, and encourage consumption of healthier alternatives such as water and milk.
During the public hearing, Wang, whose research examines racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in obesity and chronic diseases, presented a synthesis of data demonstrating that sugary drink consumption is a leading dietary contributor to preventable chronic diseases among Massachusetts children and families.
“On average, youth in the studies I conducted consumed approximately three servings of sugary drinks per day, which can be estimated upwards of 450 to 500 calories per day depending on the beverage,” Wang says. “In our Massachusetts community, there are systematic socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in sugary-drink consumption that translate into disparities in obesity and chronic diseases—trends that we also see at the national level.
“In public health, we know that fiscal measures such as taxes can be an effective legislative strategy to reduce such health disparities and promote health equity among vulnerable populations,” she says.
The tax is expected to generate at least $350 million in revenue in the first year, and those funds would support children’s health and nutrition programs. While a handful of cities in the US have successfully passed and implemented a sugary drink tax, Massachusetts would be the first state to do so.
Wang also testified that there is growing demand in Massachusetts for non-sugary beverage alternatives. Six months after implementing a community-based intervention encouraging Greater Boston Boys & Girls Club youth to replace sugar-sweetened beverages with water, she found that children’s water consumption increased by 1.3 servings per day, sugary drink consumption decreased by 1.6 servings per day, and more than 75 percent of participants’ parents supported a tax on sugary drinks.
“One of the takeaways specific to communities in the Commonwealth is that sugary drink consumption is a health behavior that parents and children are willing to change,” Wang says. “More and more, people are starting to realize that sugary drinks are an easy beverage group to cut out as one way to improve their diet and reduce excess caloric intake calories, and it doesn’t cost a lot.”
She added that the beverage industry has taken note of this consumer shift in demand for less sugary drinks, with one response being product reformulation, which has resulting in an increased variety of reduced sugar and flavored water beverage options in the past few years.
“The obesity epidemic is a multifaceted challenge that will require numerous strategies across multiple levels of influence, including policy, to reverse,” Wang says. “A sugary drink tax on its own is not going to single-handedly solve the obesity epidemic—but it can be an important catalyzing step in the right direction.”