American Medical Association Recommends Taxing Sugary Drinks to Fund Obesity Education
- Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:11am by
Liz Klimas
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The AMA stopped short of completely endorsing a soda tax for various reasons, but overall it recommends taxing sugary beverages with revenue going to education. (Image: Shutterstock)
CHICAGO (The Blaze/AP) — Just a week after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a ban on the largest size of sugary drinks sold in the city, the American Medical Association on Wednesday recommended a tax on all calorie-laden, sugar-filled beverages with the revenue generated going to obesity prevention education.
The nation’s largest physicians group agreed to support legislation that would require classes in causes, consequences and prevention of obesity for first through 12th graders. Doctors will be encouraged to volunteer their time to help with that under the new policy adopted on the final day of the AMA’s annual policymaking meeting.
Even with the AMA supporting the idea of taxing sugar-sweetened sodas as one way to help pay for obesity-fighting programs, the group stopped short of a full-fledged endorsement. Some doctors think soda taxes would disproportionately hurt the poor and disadvantaged. Others said taxes shouldn’t be used to force people to make healthful decisions they should be making on their own.
Doctors at the meeting shared sobering statistics and personal stories in urging the AMA to sharpen its focus on obesity prevention.
“I can’t tell you the number of 40-pound 1-year-olds I see every day,” Dr. Melissa Garretson, a Stephensville, Texas pediatrician, told the delegates before Wednesday’s vote. She said requiring obesity education “is a great idea.”
The measure was drafted by the AMA’s Pennsylvania delegation. It cited data showing that more than 300 million people worldwide are obese and said requiring nutrition education to prevent obesity has never been proposed.
“While there is no silver bullet that will alone reverse the meteoric rise of obesity, there are many things we can do to fight this epidemic and improve the health of our nation,” AMA board member Alexander Ding, M.D., said in a statement. “Improved consumer education on the adverse health effects of excessive consumption of beverages containing added sweeteners should be a key part of any multifaceted campaign to combat obesity.”
“Where taxes are implemented on sugar-sweetened beverages, using revenue for anti-obesity programs and educational campaigns explaining the adverse effects of excessive consumption of these beverages will help to reduce the consumption of these caloric beverages and improve public health,” said Dr. Ding.
At the same time, a recent study of Canadian children is showing soda is not the main cause obesity, but other factors such as “household income, ethnicity and food security” play more of a role.
Obesity affects more than one-third of U.S. adults and almost one in five children, or more than 12 million kids. Recent evidence suggests those numbers may have stabilized, but doctors say that’s small consolation when so many people are still too fat.
Dr. Bruce Wilder, a delegation member, said he will ask Pennsylvania legislators to introduce legislation to enact that requirement in schools.
In other action at the meeting, the AMA voted to:
-urge online social networks to adopt bans on cyber-bullying, or “electronic aggression,” on their sites.
-work to reduce suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens by partnering with public health and policy groups addressing the problem.
-encourage state and local drug courts as an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent criminals.
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Comments (60)
B_hix
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:30amC’mon…it’s not about obeisity – it’s about yet another tax – constantly looking for a ’cause’ to justify seizing more money from the dim whitted public that continues to allow it.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 9:57amI’m always disgusted when doctors start asking for more money. seriously doctors huh you guys see how many fat people a day and cannot use them to “research”? research isn’t as expensive as everyone lets on most of the time and frankly it is like “studies” some of the biggest squandered money scams and causes a huge portion of our tax dollars to go study and research nothing to do with anything. shrimp of treadmills for obesity anyone?
Report Post »marhee9
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:03amIt’s always the same with these people. Someone like Bloomberg comes out with his nanny power grabbing statements, and then the rest of them all pile on. This is about another tax with the justification that it’s what’s “best for all of us.” Of course the AMA wants more money…who doesn’t?
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-WWrGHn5QQ
RedManBlueState
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:47pmBut, but, but….. It’s FOR THE CHILDREN!!!
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:55pmThey need to start at the top if they are going to tax sugary drinks. Start with the manufacturer of the drinks and food. Tax them for producing the garbage not the end user or consumer who is getting rotten end of the deal. If they quit manufacturing it, it would solve all the problems.
GET THE BIG PICTURE HERE? It is all about scamming the public and getting as much money out of us possible. They produce it – we buy it, it is $$$ for them. We consume it – get sick it is $$$ for them. Now they aren’t making enough money – so lets tax the users – it is $$$ for them.
I don‘t understand why people aren’t seeing the big picture here. If we really want to change things, quit buying from the big box stores, quit going to movies, turn off your cable and satelite tv quit GIVING $$$ to them you would see mass chaos withing the elite of the world if we quit feeding them the $$$$$$
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 4:10pmThis is a good start but don’t forget peaches, cantolopes, pears, and watermelons. My cantalopes have almost 400 calories, my large peaches have 95 calories each and 2 slices of a watermelon is 130 calories. I did my part to stop obesity – just turned in the horses into the garden and took the fence down to all my fruit trees. Shucks I do like peach cobbler pie!.
Report Post »Angel_light
Posted on June 23, 2012 at 1:57pmExactly
Report Post »HumbleMan
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:28amHow about we let people pay for their own insurance, and let the Insurance companies charge according to the risk their clients present (e.g. if you’re fat, you get to pay more for insurance). Sorry fatty … stop over eating or pay what your behavior costs.
Free market will take of itself. The problem is “progressive” engineering of our lives. If you’re not responsible for your health, you won’t care for it.
“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” T. Jefferson
Report Post »RedManBlueState
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:49pmExactly!! And if you like unprotected gay sex in the rest stops, CHA-CHING!!!
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:27amAnother poster hit upon a very valid reason for increased obesity.
Report Post »Used to be, kids could go outside and play while parent(s) could be cooking dinner, working, etc. No longer! Nowadays we are afraid to let our kids out of our sight. Too many creeps out there. So, there the kids sit-inside until the parent has time to go outside with them. Texas knows how to take care of creeps…permanently.
grandmaof5
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:26amAnother Obama union, not in the true sense of the word, over-stepping its authority. My daughter had a simple laprascopic abdominal surgery by AMA’s “surgeon of the year” some years back. A surgery later, loss of 10″ of her large intestine, wound vacs, intensive care, etc., her belly looks like a patchwork quilt. Meanwhile, this AMA surgeon was off having meetings on how to impliment Obamacare while she was suffering from his mistake, and then had the audacity to explain to me that “no one thought Medicare was a good thing when it was implimented but look how great it is today”.
Report Post »anomnomnommm
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:25amHeard this interesting but relevant story yesterday: http://www.npr.org/2012/06/20/155411564/study-fat-people-burden-earths-resources
I‘m guessing you’ll discredit it immediately though as being typical liberal brainwashing. The person heading the paper both went to college and works at one now. A fair reason to distrust anything they say…
Report Post »iblvingd
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 3:48pmWhen did sanity leave most people! This article is totally insane!
Report Post »anomnomnommm
Posted on June 22, 2012 at 4:53pmIBLVINGD
Care to explain?
Report Post »summitday113
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:24amThe media is deceptive in it’s portrayal of the AMA as representative of all doctors. Only 15-20% of the nation’s doctors belong to the AMA. This organization has shifted dramatically over the decades. Back in the 1950′s the AMA was adamantly against the repeated bills introduced in Congress to socialize medicine. Gradually, the progressives wore them down and changed the legislation features until the AMA finally supported Medicare in 1965. Now they support Obamacare and freedom limiting legislation like this. This is a great illustration of how the progressives have been successful in slowly infiltrating all aspects of America. I hope it’s not to late to turn the ship around.
Report Post »felix
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:23amjump right on board with the rest of the communists – U.S.A. is doomed !
Report Post »msconstrue
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:10amtaxing soft drinks wont help…….how about we put PE back in the schools, make our streets and neighborhoods safe so our kids can go out to play….
Report Post »wakewiseone
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:26amgreat thought about the outdoor exercise………….and LIMIT game/computer/cell phone whatever to NO MORE than an hour a day…………but only after you ve finished your homework, housework, or other chores.
Report Post »Kisses6350
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 9:16amGood idea! Only thing is, half of america would not know what to do if you took away thier “babysitter”! ( babysitter, the computer!) We have truly become a nation of fat, lazy people! The computers and cell phones have become a part of our daily lives that we can’t seem to part with.
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:06amI’ve read that the power to tax is the power to control and enslave. Our progressive government is rapidly transforming into an overbearing mother state.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:47amThey came for the cigarettes and I said nothing……….
Report Post »Did you really think the smoking Nazis would stop tobacco?
Not only will you taxed but you will have to drink the soda outside (second hand sugar)
Gonzo
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:06amAh, the AMA…supporters of the unconstitutional Affordable Healthcare Act. Why should anyone listen to you on policy issues again?
Report Post »Fubared
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:48amIt will be just like the schools and lotto proceeds. Zip, zero, nada, but all the lefties feel so good about emoting their emotions for feel good crap.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:56amFubared, we need to spend money on education because people don’t know sugar can be fattening? That’s absurd. People know it and don’t care. Let’s raise taxes to educate people that drinking vodka can get you drunk!
Report Post »EP46
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:05amHas anyone ever noticed that the African American U.S. Surgeon General, Regina M. Benjamin, is never talked about or quoted ? Is this because she is obese ? As Surgeon General she should be making recomendations about the health of U.S. citizens. Same as Oprah…oprah was quoted as saying “Michelle Obama hates fat people and does not want me strutting around the White House!”
Report Post »Tepeyac
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:58amHow about we invesigate th AMA”s collusion with the Drug companies by pushing pills on unsuspecting patients?
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:57am“Sugary drinks” are only a SMALL PART of the problem!!!
Carbohydrates are!!!!!!!!!
Carbs raise sugar which cause the pancreas to put out massive amounts of insulin to cover the sugar, the extra insulin helps to store fat cells and raises cholesterol. Insulin helps to make plaque in the blood sticker and adhere to the walls if the blood system, which causes blockages and narrowing (cholesterol), which adds to high blood pressure.
The medical science KNOW THIS, but they are “owned” by the pharmaceautical industry for research and other funding, and the pharmaceautical industry must make there money on medications to “CONTROL” THESE DISEASES, which can be controlled much better through CORRECT, LOW-CARB DIET.
Check out the work of 75 year old, type I diabetic, Richard K. Bernstein, MD, Nut. At the age of 30 as an ENGINEEER, he obtained an early blood glucose meter, logged all the foods he ate and and learned that high carb food cause the rise in blood sugar, and that moder good protein, good (non-sugar) veggies, whole fats (butter, milk, etc.), and limited fruits can CONTROL type II and cause good LOSS OF WEIGHT.
In his thirties he returned to school, Albert Einstein Medical Center, got his MD and a degree in nutrition and has changed the world for a moderate number of us who tried, perservered and are now the healthiest we’ve been in years.
Diabetes and obesity ARE REVERSIBLE/CONTROLABLE. This is not advertising or a scam!!!
Report Post »B4B
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:55amSaw this coming when they raised tobacco taxes a few years back.
1) Demonize it.
2) Say we need to do something to “save the children”.
3) TAX IT TAX IT TAX IT TAX IT TAX IT!
Other brilliant ideas.
Report Post »SUV tax. (damn your 4-wheel drive and large family)
Carbohydrate tax. (you don’t “need” that bagel)
Trans fat tax. (diet, not fry it)
Idling your car Tax. (hope you don’t live in a cold weather climate)
Carbon tax. (try not breathing)
National Mileage tax. (move to the city and use public transport evildoer)
Internet tax. (because we want to darn it)
Frankly there are too many to list.
sawbuck
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:55amFunny…but NOT…Has anyone ever visited a “pig farm”
Report Post »I never seen them serving “SODA” To the PIGS….and their FAT as hell.
also..
If they decide to put “warning labels” on the soda cans…
They better start with “diet soda” first…
I think that stuff is worse than cigarettes..
HKS
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:41amAbout as dumb as anything I’ve heard lately. I guess our ignorance as a society is really showing now days.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:57amThe AMA… is headed by Liberals… support Obama & ObamaCare… and represent only a small number of Doctors who agree… where other members receive benefits by being AMA Members!
Report Post »MRMANN
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:39amThis tax would be unfair to all the non-obese, in the same way it would be unfair to non-smokers if everyone were forced to pay a tobacco tax.
Report Post »Legal Immigrant
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:38amHow about the AMA voluntarily pay a 90% tax rate on everything connected to it including their individual incomes.
The remaining 10% goes to tithing.
Report Post »canuck44
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:37amThe AMA has become irrelevant…. they do not speak for the Medical profession and have been bought off by the Left. Their membership like the AARP continues to dwindle each year.
Report Post »THXll38
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:34amLike the banning of goods and services, taxing theme to death will not prevent people from using them. This is just another revenue stream that will be used for something that it was not intended for.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:25amAccording to Actual Studies: OBESITY is related to Poverty, Certain Racial Groups, & Age!
Report Post »JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:24amWith all the health programs out there and all the advise in media I don’t think this tax would be fair. Anybody that hasn’t figured out by now that being over weight and plying yourself with sugar is NOT healthy for you, muchless a good idea obviously does not care to start with. Who the hell does the government think they are to make my pursuit of happiness more expensive than the health nuts. Why don’t they put a tax on all that so called healthy food to educate. This would just be discrimination.
Report Post »historyguy48
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:19amWonderful idea! Lets throw a $3 per ounce tax on everything with sugar in it! You know, perhaps we should make that tax $20 per ounce and extend it to all food and drink items across the board!
Report Post »Think about how much weight you will lose as you starve to death! You’ll be soooo skinny! Kind of like a concentration camp survivor, Hitlers enforced weight loss plan, right?
kickagrandma
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:19amOh, bull!
The ama proves itself once again NOT to be FOR We The People.
How much other incorrect, useless and dangerous information have they passed on to us in the “guise” of being concerned for our health?
Absolutely controlled by the leftists radicals and arrogant twits thereof.
Report Post »FrankJHornik
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 7:18amI am sure they do. Already in bed with the Obama administration over the healthcare reform, they probably want the tax dollars to be given to them so they can do the education programs themselves. Too bad we don’t regulate fat cat politicians and programs for their gross obseity to tax and spend policies.
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