Editor’s note: This commentary is by Laural Ruggles, a resident of Danville who is vice president of marketing and community health improvement at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury, and chair of the Fit and Healthy Coalition of Caledonia and South Essex Counties.
[O]besity, obesity-related chronic conditions, and the related personal and societal costs are a significant health and economic concern in Vermont. In pure economic terms, the costs of obesity are staggering. In Vermont we spend more than $200 million a year on obesity-related medical costs.
So what is driving these high health and economic costs related to obesity? The medical evidence is clear: there is a direct association between the consumption of sugary drinks and obesity and obesity-related conditions including diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease. One study found that for children “the odds of becoming obese increased significantly for each additional daily serving of sugar-sweetened drink.” Other studies showed similar associations between consumption of sugary drinks and high blood pressure and high cholesterol in teens.
Taxing a product to reduce consumption works — it is simple economics: raise prices through taxes and sales will fall. It worked for cigarettes.
The rising rate of obesity has mirrored the rising rate in consumption of sugary drinks. The intake of sugary drinks has doubled among adults since the late 1970s. Today in the United States, children drink more sugary drinks than milk. This statistic should be especially disconcerting in a dairy state like Vermont.
One approach to dealing with the corresponding problem of obesity and rising sugary drinks consumption is to tax sugary drinks. Taxing a product to reduce consumption works — it is simple economics: raise prices through taxes and sales will fall. It worked for cigarettes. The Vermont Tobacco Control Work Plan 2010-2011 concluded that “increases on taxes in cigarettes have been the single most effective policy approach to reducing tobacco use.”
Similar to tobacco, raising the price through taxes can have the beneficial consequences of both reducing consumption and raising millions of dollars in revenue each year. Based on current consumption habits of Vermonters, a 2 cent per ounce tax enacted this year would generate over $30 million in revenue annually. To get the most bang from these bucks, Vermont could use the revenues raised to fund obesity prevention programs or subsidize healthy food purchases for low-income Vermonters.
The secret to lowering health care costs: less sugary drinks equals less obesity equals less diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol and heart disease. It all adds up to healthier Vermonters using fewer health care dollars and saving the state and businesses millions of dollars a year. Raising revenue through a 2 cent per ounce excise tax on sugary drinks is a win-win for Vermont.
