TY - JOUR
T1 - The evidence - And acceptability - Of taxes on unhealthy foods
AU - Rajagopal, Selvi
AU - Barnhill, Anne
AU - Sharfstein, Joshua M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/11/20
Y1 - 2018/11/20
N2 - The global obesity pandemic has public advocates and policymakers grappling with the question of how best to respond. Among the various policy options, unhealthy food and beverage taxes have gained attention as a potentially effective intervention to reduce non-nutritive caloric intake, while raising government funds for health promotion programs at the community level. Yet in many countries, including in Israel, such proposals have not gained broad support. Cities in both United States and Mexico have found that taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages reduce consumption. Yet the food industry has successfully fought many such policies. Looking forward, those supporting taxation policies will need to provide clear evidence, a compelling use of funds raised, a convincing answer to industry claims, and attention to equity in implementation. With no easy fixes in sight to obesity, it is likely that taxes will remain viable - if contested - options for the foreseeable future.
AB - The global obesity pandemic has public advocates and policymakers grappling with the question of how best to respond. Among the various policy options, unhealthy food and beverage taxes have gained attention as a potentially effective intervention to reduce non-nutritive caloric intake, while raising government funds for health promotion programs at the community level. Yet in many countries, including in Israel, such proposals have not gained broad support. Cities in both United States and Mexico have found that taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages reduce consumption. Yet the food industry has successfully fought many such policies. Looking forward, those supporting taxation policies will need to provide clear evidence, a compelling use of funds raised, a convincing answer to industry claims, and attention to equity in implementation. With no easy fixes in sight to obesity, it is likely that taxes will remain viable - if contested - options for the foreseeable future.
KW - Ethics
KW - Food industry
KW - Lower socioeconomic status
KW - Obesity
KW - Policy
KW - Public health
KW - Unhealthy food and beverage taxes
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U2 - 10.1186/s13584-018-0264-6
DO - 10.1186/s13584-018-0264-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 30458862
AN - SCOPUS:85056803958
SN - 2045-4015
VL - 7
JO - Israel journal of health policy research
JF - Israel journal of health policy research
IS - 1
M1 - 68
ER -