A new study by Christopher N. Ford, PhD, found that a tax on beverages high in sugar and/or fat may be associated with favorable shifts in food and beverage purchases among households in the United States with a preschool child.
A press release by the Gillings School of Global Public Health featured Ford’s research:
Researchers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health determined that taxing high-calorie beverages may help persuade families of preschool children in the U.S. to buy fewer such beverages and perhaps to buy fewer high-calorie foods, as well. The study, “Targeted Beverage Taxes Influence Food and Beverage Purchases Among Households with Preschool Children,” used household food and beverage purchase data from the 2009 – 2012 Nielsen Homescan Panel, and was published online June 10 in the Journal of Nutrition.
Read the full press release here.
Read the full research article here.
Chris Ford, PhD, is a Gillings School Department of Nutrition and UNCFRP alumnus, and is now a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.