Citation
Popkin, Barry M. (2017). Mexican Cohort Study Predates but Predicts the Type of Body Composition Changes Expected from the Mexican Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax.
American Journal of Public Health, 107(11), 1702-1703.
Abstract
Important lessons can be learned from studies of the Mexican sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax and related studies on the health effects of the tax. The Mexican government instituted a nationwide one peso per liter excise tax on SSBs that was effective on January 1, 2014. The tax applies to all nonalcoholic beverages with added sugar and represents an approximate 10% increase in prices. The Mexican SSB tax rate is less than the 20% rate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and scholars globally recommend that the rate be at least 20% or larger to have a meaningful impact. The article by Stern, et al. (p. 1801) uses data from before the tax was implemented but is the first published large-scale longitudinal study that uses the Mexican teachers cohort to examine the impact of SSBs on weight in Mexico. The Mexican teachers cohort was designed to follow procedures similar to those of the well-known Harvard cohort studies (the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study) of health professionals and nurses’ cohorts. Combining this study with others from Mexico provides some sense of the long-term benefits we can realistically expect to achieve with this tax.
URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2017.304097Reference Type
Journal Article
Year Published
2017
Journal Title
American Journal of Public Health
Author(s)
Popkin, Barry M.
ORCiD
Popkin - 0000-0001-9495-9324
