November 29, 2018 — Health reporters have a news flash for us. Soda is the worst! All those other sugary foods? Not so bad, say the headlines. For diabetes risk, soda is the thing to fear. A Very Nuanced Study vs Sensational Headlines Why are we suddenly awash in such headlines? A study in the BMJ is at the […]
April 9, 2018 — It’s a favorite rationale for avoiding anything sweet. Even if it has no calories it will drive you to want more sweet foods and drinks. Sweet stuff will give you a sweet tooth, says the Harvard School of Public Health on its website: The human brain responds to sweetness with signals to eat more. By […]
January 31, 2018 — Resistance to public health policies is the reason that obesity is growing relentlessly. Especially resistance to a sugar tax. That deadpan comment from a health and obesity expert is impressive, opinionated speculation. It came at a recent roundtable of experts to explore strategies for reducing obesity. And the pitch is working. All over the world, […]
January 25, 2018 — Will taxing sodas bring us more alcohol consumption? That’s the heretical question raised by a new study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The answer they found is a bit complicated. But it’s clear that less soda can mean more beer. Many Choices for Food and Beverages Food and beverage taxes as a […]
November 19, 2017 — The Huffington Post asks if African Americans are “On a Sugar High?” That’s how they open a story about rising rates of diabetes. Health reporters offer advice for coming down from a sugar high. Tax cuts “Could Cause a Sugar High,” says Reuters. Oh, great! This buzz phrase connecting sugar, euphoria, and hyperactivity is so potent […]
November 16, 2017 — We have a bit of good news and a bit of bad news in the soda-obesity war this week. The good news is that soda’s down. A new paper just published online in Obesity confirms what the industry has been saying for several years now. People are drinking less soda. In fact, they’re drinking less […]
August 7, 2017 — Add one more U.S. city to the rolling soda tax experiment. Last week Chicago began taxing sweetened beverages at a rate of a penny per ounce. A lawsuit by the Illinois retail merchants association delayed the the tax by a month. On July 28, a judge dismissed the suit and cleared the way for the […]
February 2, 2017 — This week, CDC released data showing that the steady decline in sugar-sweetened beverages, ongoing since 1999, has slowed. The reaction from some public health folks was hyperbolic. Big soda “causes carnage” and “cares nothing” about it, says Walter Willett. Comparisons to alcohol, tobacco, and guns flowed freely. Oddly enough, folks sounding these alarms did not acknowledge declining sugary […]
December 16, 2016 — Mexico is something of a poster child for using taxes to drive down soda sales and fight obesity. A 10% tax on sugary drinks began nationwide there in 2014. After three years of the tax, soda consumption appears to be down, but obesity is still climbing. New results from Mexico’s 2016 National Health and Nutrition […]
August 11, 2015 — The number one most emailed story from the New York Times this weekend is one that fell just short of name calling against three different scientists. The narrative behind this story is that funding for research and dialog about the health effects of physical activity is a key ploy by Coca Cola to persuade people […]
