Toast to the taxes on sugary beverages!!

In association-sponsored commercials on television and radio, homemakers spout the spurious agument that a tax on sugary drinks would make it more difficult for them to feed their families .However is soda essential in our daily life?Or do we prefer the instant effects of a cold coke to a permanently healthy body.To improve the health of its residents and its coffers the New York State is considering an excise tax of about one penny per once on high-calorie sweetened beverages.

A number of scientific studies have found that the amount of sugar we consume is a major factoron how big Americans have become .In the last Half century , consumption sugar by the average of American has increased by more than 24 pounds a year,expanding waistlines and crowding out more nuitritious foods. Furthermore, the studies indicate that the main dietary culprit for both the increase in sugar and the weight of Americans has been the ever-growing consumption of sugary drinks,especially soda.These soft drinks contribute 7 percent of the calories Americans consume, making them the leading source of added sugar and the single

largest source of caloriesin our diet. "Soft drinks are nutritionally worthless…[and] are directly related to gain weight because beverages are more conducive to weight gain than solid foods"said Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

In the New York Times of April 07th is written that a team of prominent doctors, scientists and policy makers say it could be a powerful weapon in efforts to reduce obesity ,in the same way that cigarette taxes have helped curb smoking.The group, which includes the New York City Health commissioner , Thomas Farley, and Joseph W. Thompson, Arkansas surgeon general, estimates that a tax of a penny /once on sugary beverages would raise $14.9 billion in its first year , which could be spent on health care initiatives. The tax would apply to soft drinks, energy drinks, sports beverages and many juices and iced teas — but not sugar-free diet drinks.

The tax by itself leads to a healthier population and a more powerful economie so why not?