Researchers in the United States have quantified the death rate in that country from sodas. The team, from the Universities of California and Columbia, and the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, have estimated that 26,000 people die annually from “sweetened beverages”.
The conclusion is based on analysis of previous research into the effects of sweetened beverages on public and individual health, and comes as more public health authorities call for the introduction of a tax on the soft drink Americans call “soda”.
Annually 187 litres per capita of soda, sports drinks and other commercially sweetened beverages is consumed in the United States. This level of consumption of sugar is considered by public health authorities to be one of the major contributors to the current obesity epidemic.
The researchers claim that if a tax was imposed on sweetened beverages, 240,000 cases of diabetes would be prevented annually. A further 100,000 cases of heart disease and 8000 strokes would also be prevented, they say, and provide a US$30 billion reversal in national health budgets.
The University of California’s associate professor of biostatistics and medicine, Dr Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, said that in addition to US$13 billion in direct tax revenue nationally, such a tax would save the public US$17 billion per year in healthcare-related expenses due to the decline of obesity-related diseases.
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