Mexico’s soda tax is kicking in, cutting sales of sugary beverages, says the New York Times, citing a study published in the journal BMJ this week. Mexico has the highest proportion of overweight or obese adults among developed countries, about 70 percent, and the highest rate of Type 2 diabetes, according to the OECD. “It also has the highest per capita consumption of soft drinks, which account for 70 percent of the total added sugars consumed by the average Mexican,” the Times said.
Researchers looked at purchasing patterns of 6,000 households in Mexico in the year after a sales tax of 1 peso per liter was imposed on sugar sweetened beverages on Jan 1, 2014. “The researchers found that sugary beverage sales fell an average of 6 percent in 2014, and that the decline accelerated over time, reaching a 12 percent drop by December 2014. The decline was seen across all socioeconomic groups, but it was greatest among people who were low income, whose consumption had fallen 17 percent,” said the Times.
“Public health authorities hailed the findings as the first hard evidence that a nationwide tax could spur behavioral changes that might help to chip away at high obesity rates,” said the Times. The beverage industry says there was minimal impact on number of calories consumed by Mexicans, so it is wrong to view the tax as a cure for obesity.