I’m speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, June 25-28. I don’t have details yet, but will post when I do.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have issued a joint statement endorsing soda taxes along with other policies aimed at reducing risks for childhood obesity (the full statement is published in Pediatrics).
The AAP and AHA recommend:
Comment: This action of the AAP is truly remarkable. In 2015, this Academy was heavily criticized for taking funding from Coca-Cola and, surely not coincidentally, saying little about the need for children to reduce consumption of sugary drinks. Once exposed, the AAP said it could no longer accept that funding. I did, however, hear an alternative story. Coca-Cola officials told me that as a result of their transparency initiative, the company would no longer fund the Pediatric, Dietetic, and Family Practice Academies. It is also hardly a coincidence that now that the AAP no longer takes money from Coke, it is free to promote soda taxes as a useful public health strategy.