Taxing soft drinks could reduce obesity and diabetes in India, finds study

New research has found that applying excise tax to sugar sweetened beverages such as soft drinks could reduce obesity and diabetes in India.

Led by Stanford University researcher Sanjay Basu, a team of scientists from the United Kingdom, United States, and India found that a 20% excise duty on sugar sweetened drinks would prevent 11.2 million new cases of obesity and overweight (a 3% decline) and 400 000 cases of type 2 diabetes (a 1.6% decline) between 2014 and 2023. The study was published in PLOS Medicine.1

The team looked at data …