Sugary drinks & flab

A 9^th December Reuter article headline “Tax sugary drinks to fight the flab, says expert” caught my eye. In the article Barry Popkin, Professor of Nutrition at University of North Carolina, suggested that sugary drinks should be taxed like cigarettes in order to reduce the numbers drinking them. Depending on the country, 10 – 25% of all calories are consumed in the form of sugary or calorie-rich beverages. In USA, replacing sugary drinks with water could cut 300 – 600 calories a day from the diet of an average American. At present 1 in 3 American adults is obese which predisposes them to diabetes mellitus. In the next 25 years, the number of diabetes cases in USA is forecast to triple to 44 million and the yearly cost of caring for them will rise to $336 billion. This is just one condition related to obesity.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see young children drinking sugary drinks at McDonald’s. Does this predispose them to obesity? Researchers from the Pennsylvania State University studied the possible relevance of beverage intake at age 5 to adiposity and weight status across childhood and adolescence in 170 non-Hispanic white girls (Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 90: 935 – 942). These girls were assessed biennially from age 5 to 15 for beverage intake (milk, fruit juice and sweetened beverages) and energy intake. The percentage body fat, waist circumference and BMI were measured. The 5 year olds were categorized as consuming <1, ≥ 1 but < 2 or ≥ 2 servings of sweetened beverages per day. The study found that sweetened beverage intake at age 5 was positively associated with adiposity from age 5 to 15 years. The consumption of ≥ 2 servings per day was associated with a higher percentage of body fat, waist circumference and weight status at these ages. There was no association with milk or fruit juice intake.

Sugary drinks, such as Coca Cola, epitomise the American way of life and they are craved by many, young and old, throughout the world. Regular consumption brings with it the problem of increased calorie intake on top of a regular diet which contributes to the development of obesity for many. Recently, researchers from Harvard University published their forecast of the effects of obesity and smoking on life expectancy in USA. The researchers concluded that if past obesity trends continue unchecked, the negative effects of increasing BMI will overwhelm the positive effects of the decline in smoking in the population (N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 2252 -2260).

Obesity is a global health issue which is not only confined to affluent, developed societies. Taxing sugary drinks may help to tackle the issue of obesity; however, it is unlikely to solve the problem. To make a significant dent in the obesity problem, society as a whole has to demand tougher measures. For one, perhaps society should consider imposing a minimum age limit on the purchase of sugary drinks which would at least help us fight the childhood obesity epidemic. Will this fly? Most likely not.