Sugary soda tax effective in four California cities: Kids had lower BMI readings, study finds

Berkeley became the first U.S. city to implement an SSB tax in 2015, with the other Bay Area cities following suit.Photo byYUE LIUonUnsplash

A Kaiser Permanente study has found that soda taxes in four Bay Area cities—Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco—are associated with a reduction in BMI percentiles among children and teens.

The study, which analyzed over 390,000 young Kaiser members aged 2 to 19 between 2009 and 2020, compared the BMI percentiles of youth in these cities with those in 40 California cities without such taxes.

The findings revealed that youth in cities with sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes had an overall 1.64 percentage point lower average BMI percentile after the tax was implemented.

The study highlighted stronger impacts among children under 12, boys, and Asian and white youth, though it did not observe health-related benefits for Black youth or those living in high-poverty neighborhoods.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Deborah Young, emphasized that while the results suggest a positive impact on children's health, further research is needed to determine whether the BMI reductions were due to decreased soda consumption or additional health programs funded by the tax revenue.

Berkeley became the first U.S. city to implement an SSB tax in 2015, with the other Bay Area cities following suit, adding a penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugary beverages.