Imposing tax on soda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Imposing tax on soda - Essay Example It’s a serious problem that people are facing. Yet levying soda tax, does have a proper way of controlling obesity. First, soft drinks tax might increase low-income family economic burden. For example, many low-income families in the U.S have more than 3 members, and any spending expenses could be important to them. Leonhard (2010) reports that â€Å"a small soda tax could actually have a worse impact on some families’ budgets than a substantial one---by raising the price of soda without affecting consumption† (p.1).It’s similar with teenagers, even though they are big soda drinkers, they are especially price sensitive. In addition, low-income family has few members who are overweight due to their economic situation. It’s unfair to them to pay soda tax. Secondly, it could not reduce the quantity of obesity. There are a great number of factors such as eating habits or racial groups that cause obesity. For instance, fast food such as McDonald, KFC are popular in American. Burgers, fries are parts of people live. They have high calories and they also lead to fat build up. McLeay point out (2003) â€Å"one out of four people in America eat fast food.† Myfit.ca reveals that 50 million people in the U.S. rely on fast food. People are able to drink water or juicy instead of soda† (as cited in Helpugide. Org). Yet it’s hard to change their eating habits. If say soda drinks is a factor that causes obesity, fast food is the root cause of obesity. Therefore, levying tax mere on soda drinks cannot decrease the level of obesity. Besides, racial groups also have effect on the level of obesity. Marlow and Shires (2010) explained â€Å"Consumption data reveal that white persons consume more carbonated soft drinks than other ra ce groups, and that blacks consume more high-calorie fruit drinks and ads. Nutritive sweetened beverages suggest that fruit drinks and Ades are a greater cause of obesity than carbonated soft drinks† (p.37). If the