A special tax in Berkeley, Calif., reduced consumption of soda and other sugary drinks by more than a fifth in the city's low-income neighborhoods, according to a study published Tuesday in the American Journal of Public Health.
Berkeley became the first in the U.S. to introduce a penny-per-ounce tax in March 2015, and the peer-reviewed research is the first to measure the impact of the tax, reports The Wall Street Journal. It found consumption of soda and other sugary drinks decreased 21 percent in low-income neighborhoods of Berkeley.
The findings were based on interviews with Berkeley residents before and after the tax. At the same time, consumption of soda and other sugary drinks increased 4 percent in the low-income neighborhoods of Oakland and San Francisco, Calif., where the tax was not implemented. Water consumption also increased 63 percent in Berkeley compared to 19 percent in San Francisco and Oakland.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the study states that the results "suggest" the tax lowered consumption but acknowledged other factors also could have been at play, including increased awareness about the health impact of sugary drinks.
San Francisco and Oakland are slated to vote on a penny-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugary drinks in November, while Boulder, Colo., is weighing a 2-cent-per-ounce tax, the report states.
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