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Soda taxes, consumption, and health outcomes for high school students

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  • Flynn, James

Abstract

This paper uses new data from the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBS) survey to assess whether the sugar-sweetened beverage taxes passed in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Oakland have led to health improvements among high school students in these cities. I find that students in Philadelphia reduced their consumption by over one soda per week and that this reduction has remained constant or even grown over the first four years since the tax was implemented. I estimate that average BMI went down by 1.3% by 2021 across the three cities and that these effects are larger among female and non-white students.

Suggested Citation

  • Flynn, James, 2024. "Soda taxes, consumption, and health outcomes for high school students," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:234:y:2024:i:c:s0165176523005335
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2023.111507
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Cawley & David Frisvold & Anna Hill & David Jones, 2020. "The Impact of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax on Prices and Product Availability," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 605-628, June.
    2. Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell, 2020. "How Well Targeted Are Soda Taxes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(11), pages 3661-3704, November.
    3. Lynn D Silver & Shu Wen Ng & Suzanne Ryan-Ibarra & Lindsey Smith Taillie & Marta Induni & Donna R Miles & Jennifer M Poti & Barry M Popkin, 2017. "Changes in prices, sales, consumer spending, and beverage consumption one year after a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Berkeley, California, US: A before-and-after study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, April.
    4. John Cawley & Michael Daly & Rebecca Thornton, 2022. "The effect of beverage taxes on youth consumption and body mass index: Evidence from Mauritius," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(6), pages 1033-1045, June.
    5. Yichen Zhong & Amy H. Auchincloss & Brian K. Lee & Ryan M. McKenna & Brent A. Langellier, 2020. "Sugar-Sweetened and Diet Beverage Consumption in Philadelphia One Year after the Beverage Tax," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-12, February.
    6. John Cawley & David Frisvold & David Jones & Chelsea Lensing, 2021. "The Pass‐Through of a Tax on Sugar‐Sweetened Beverages in Boulder, Colorado," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(3), pages 987-1005, May.
    7. James Flynn, 2023. "Do sugar‐sweetened beverage taxes improve public health for high school aged adolescents?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 47-64, January.
    8. Leider, Julien & Powell, Lisa M., 2022. "Longer-term impacts of the Oakland, California, sugar-sweetened beverage tax on prices and volume sold at two-years post-tax," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    9. Powell, Lisa M. & Leider, Julien, 2020. "The impact of Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax on beverage prices and volume sold," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Soda tax; Health behavior; Taxation; Obesity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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