Soda Tax Effect on Health Outcomes

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), also called sugary drinks, are drinks that have added sugar or other sweetener. Consumption of SSBs is a risk factor for chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. Food deserts are areas that lack the access to affordable healthy foods and drinks. Americans living in food deserts lack essential nutrients in their diets. Previous research has shown that SSBs increase the risk for chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease for all people. Previous research has also shown that food deserts is associated to high consumption of SSBs. The paper will be a review of the soda tax laws and also attempt to measure soda consumption with certain health outcomes by using food deserts as a proxy variable, as maybe the soda consumption-food desert measure can be used in the future to evaluate the impact of the soda tax in jurisdictions that have enacted that legislation.https://scholar.dominican.edu/ug-student-posters/1097/thumbnail.jp