Soft drinks contain large amounts of added sugar.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Because of the obesity epidemic that has taken over the entire world, it seems that sugar taxes could increase this year. The suggestion was made after several other countries introduced this measure of limiting sugar consumption and registered satisfying results.
Because of an obesity epidemics of world proportion and a significant spike in diabetes patients, several large nations are considering raising the sugar taxes. This seems like the ultimate solution in the fight against added sugars that sneak themselves in the diet of the everyday individual.
The obesity epidemic is highly sustained by the increasing advertising and marketing of sugary products. Sugary drinks are one of the most advertised sugary products on the market, and they are the main reason for child obesity and the early onset of diabetes. The principal cause is the fact that people are not aware of the incredibly high amounts of sugar that those drinks contain.
When the news that sugar taxes could increase hit the ears of the sugary foods producers, they urged their governments to think twice before adopting the new measure. Their main arguments against the increase of the sugar taxes were that there will be lots of people who will lose their jobs, the public’s anger will be shed on the products, not on the government that decided to increase the prices and that the poor class will add yet other products on the list of things they are not able to afford.
But the main argument of the sugary products industry was the lack of a scientific study that demonstrates the fact that an increased sugar tax will lead to a significant change into the lifestyle of the country’s citizens.
Their argument may be solid, but there are other countries which adopted the measure without needing a scientific study to back up their decision. And those countries are a pertinent example of why the sugar tax should be raised as soon as possible.
The real question shouldn’t be if sugar taxes really should be increased, but rather why is it that necessary to levy them? The answer is simple, and it was also given by numerous scientific studies.
Sugar doesn’t only cause obesity or diabetes. It could also lead to the development of serious heart problems and an assortment of other health issues. And it is difficult to limit a person’s daily sugar intake because of the wide variety of products that uses added sugars.
The success of countries like France, Hungary, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries points to the fact that sugar taxes could increase this year in the Philippines, India and Indonesia. The United States could be next on the list.
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