Evaluating the impact of Philadelphia’s sweetened beverage tax
New research reported in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper finds that, after roughly one year, Philadelphia’s tax on sweetened beverages did not substantially reduce children’s consumption of such beverages overall.
New research reported in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper finds that, after roughly one year, Philadelphia’s tax on sweetened beverages did not substantially reduce children’s consumption of such beverages overall. However, the tax did reduce the intake of added sugars from beverages for African American children and children who were the highest consumers of added sugars before the tax.
In 2016 and 2017, the authors interviewed consumers at stores in Philadelphia and comparison communities near the city about their beverage purchases before and after implementation of the tax. They also conducted a household survey of beverage consumption before and after the tax among adults and children living in Philadelphia and the same comparison communities.
The researchers found that after the tax, the average amount of sweetened beverages purchased per shopping trip in Philadelphia fell by 8.9 ounces relative to the comparison communities, which is roughly equivalent to two fewer two-liter bottles per month. Among children overall, the tax did not have a substantial impact on consumption of sweetened beverages or intake of added sugars from beverages. However, for children who were high consumers of added sugars from beverages (the equivalent of a 20-oz bottle of regular soda per day), the tax decreased consumption of added sugars by nearly 15 grams per day, or 22%.
Among African American children—who have higher rates of sweetened beverage consumption and obesity nationally—the tax reduced consumption of added sugars from beverages by 8 grams per day, which translates to 32 fewer calories per day.
For adults, the tax reduced consumption of regular soda by roughly one fewer 20-oz soda every three days, but there was no detectable change in their consumption of other sweetened beverages or of added sugars from beverages overall. Among African American adults, the tax reduced the frequency of regular soda consumption by 14.6 times per month—the equivalent of nearly one fewer 20-oz soda every other day.
“Although the tax did not reduce the consumption of sweetened beverages or the intake of added sugars from beverages among children overall, the tax did influence consumption among African American children and among children who were frequent consumers of sweetened beverages,” said David Frisvold, a study co-author and associate professor of economics at the University of Iowa. “If these results are sustained, the tax could reduce weight among African American children by two pounds and among previously frequent consumers of sweetened beverages by four pounds.”