Prior to its implementation, an analysis by the Childhood Obesity Intervention and Cost Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health projected that the move would help prevent obesity, diabetes, and premature deaths—and save more in future healthcare costs than it would cost to implement.
New research by the project, released in October, envisages similar results in four additional cities considering sugary beverage taxes: Albany, New York, Oakland and San Francisco in California, and Boulder, Colorado.
The researchers, led by Steven Gortmaker, professor of the practice of health sociology and director of the Harvard Prevention Research Centre, suggest that revenue from the taxes be used for education and health promotion efforts. “Implementing the tax could also serve as a powerful social signal to reduce sugar consumption,” they write.
