Health to investigate tax on fizzy drinks

Friday 26 February 2016

Jersey's Health Minister wants to see a tax on fizzy drinks as a first step to tackling the Island's obesity problem.

Deputy Andrew Green says he's in favour of a sugar tax but it needs to be simple and a levy on fizzy pop should help us cut down on sugary drinks and provide more funding to deal with obesity and to give children more access to dental care.

Speaking at last week's Health & Social Security Scrutiny Hearing he said he'd be putting the idea to the Treasury Minister.

The Island's Medical Officer of Health says a tax on fizzy drinks is already proving to be effective in Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland and 38 states in America where they have more public support for the tax and there is evidence of a 15% reduction in consumption.

Dr Susan Turnbull said around half of men in Jersey are obese and overweight and that figure is rising and the latest school surveys show that we've got more obese boys starting school than girls. A quarter of boys at the start of the school year are obese and that figure rises to a third by the end of Reception and it's boys she says are drinking more fizzy drinks than girls.

Dr Turnbull said there are between nine and ten teaspoons of sugar in a normal sized can of fizzy drink and about double that in the larger sized drinks available at fast food outlets and at the cinema and that's causing a big problem and more and more pressure on our healthcare services.

She said obesity is to blame for a number of non-communicable chronic diseases - causing type 2 diabetes and with it kidney disease, heart disease, eye disease as well as a wide range of cancers including breast cancer, cancer of the uterus, oesophagus, stomach and bowel.

Dr Turnbull said: "Obesity is a big problem and it's worth preventing and at the moment without effective preventative measures it's on the way up."