US pediatricians call for soda taxes and less advertising of sugary drinks

Two of the country's top medical groups are calling for soda taxes and a rollback of sugary drink ads in the hopes of discouraging children from consuming them.

In a joint statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association endorsed a series of recommendations they say will help curb rates of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well as the growing obesity epidemic.

'We have tried, and failed, to curb sugary drink intake through education and individual choices alone,' said Dr Natalie Muth, a pediatrician in San Diego, California, and lead author of the statement. 

'Just like policy changes were necessary and effective in reducing consumption of tobacco and alcohol, we need policy changes that will help reduce sugary drink consumption in children and adolescents.'  

The rate of childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970s, affecting one in five children in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Childhood obesity is now the number one health concern among parents in the US, topping drug abuse and smoking.  

Obesity continues to plague more than one-third of American adults, and experts have warned that this proportion will only grow as younger generations do.

Experts say several factors have contributed, including low amounts of physical activity, a rise in junk food consumption and sugary drinks.  

Eating too much sugar has been linked to several health problems include asthma, cavities, raising levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol and increasing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Dr Muth says that children consume an average of 30 gallons of sugary drinks each year, the equivalent of about half a bathtub full of sugar.

Although soda consumption has declined in the US, kids and teens still get about 143 calories per day from sugar-laden drinks.  

Meanwhile, the AHA has recommended that children consume no more than six teaspoons of sugar, or 100 calories, per day.  

'For children, the biggest source of added sugars often is not what they eat, it's what they drink,' Dr Muth said.

'As a pediatrician, I am concerned that these sweetened drinks pose real - and preventable - risks to our children's health, including tooth decay, diabetes, obesity and heart disease.' 

That's why, among many recommendations, the AAP and the AHA have called for lawmakers to raise the price of sugary drinks on the local, state and federal level via taxes. 

In March 2015, Berkeley, California, became the first city in the country to impose a one percent tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. 

One year after the introduction of the tax, sales of sugary drinks fell by 9.6 percent while their sales in surrounding areas rose 6.9 percent, a study in 2017 found.