Levying excise taxes on SSB distributors, which are subsequently passed on to consumers, is a policy implemented to reduce the high prevalence of cardiometabolic disease and generate public health funding. While taxes have been associated with lower SSB purchases and consumption, it was unknown whether they are associated with weight-related outcomes in youth.
A cohort study was conducted from 2009 to 2020, including 6 years before tax implementation and 4 to 6 years after tax implementation. The analysis included data from 44,771 youths living in four California cities (Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco), which implemented SSB excise taxes, and 345,428 youths from 40 demographically matched control cities in California.
There was a negative 1.64 percentage point overall difference in the mean change of BMI percentile (95 percent confidence interval) between exposure and control cities after SSB tax implementation. There was no significant overall difference in the percentage of youth with overweight or obesity or youth with obesity compared with control cities.
These findings suggest that policymakers should consider implementing SSB excise taxes to reduce the percentage of youth with high BMI percentiles, which may reduce prevalence of youth overweight and obesity.
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