CAN SOFT DRINK TAXES REDUCE POPULATION WEIGHT? |
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| Authors: | JASON M FLETCHER DAVID FRISVOLD NATHAN TEFFT |
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| Institution: | Fletcher:;Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, Division of Health Policy and Administration, Yale University, 60 College Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. Phone 203-785-5760, Fax 203-785-6287, E-mail . Frisvold:;Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322-2240, USA. Phone 404-727-7833, Fax 404-727-4639, E-mail . Tefft:;Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Bates College, 4 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA. Phone 207-786-6069, Fax 207-786-8337, E-mail |
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| Abstract: | Soft drink consumption has been hypothesized as one of the major factors in the growing rates of obesity in the United States. Nearly two-thirds of all states currently tax soft drinks using excise taxes, sales taxes, or special exceptions to food exemptions from sales taxes to reduce consumption of this product, raise revenue, and improve public health. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of changes in state soft drink taxes on body mass index (BMI), obesity, and overweight. Our results suggest that soft drink taxes influence BMI, but that the impact is small in magnitude. ( JEL I18, H75) |
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