A UK cardiologist is calling for regulatory action to curb the consumption of sugary drinks and foods, similar to those imposed on the tobacco industry.
In a commentary published by Medscape, Aseem Malhotra, MBChB, MRCP, Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, Lister Hospital, Stevenage, United Kingdom, points to disturbing statistics on the rise of obesity-related diseases and calls for a sugar tax in order to reduce public consumption of sugar by 15%.
“Oxford researchers have estimated that a 15% reduction in sugar consumption through such a tax would prevent 180,000 people in the UK from becoming obese within a year and a larger number from becoming overweight,” Malhotra writes.
“We mustn’t forget that the substantial decline in tobacco consumption in the past three decades, which was the single most important factor driving a decrease in cardiovascular mortality during that period, only happened after legislative measures that targeted the affordability, availability, and acceptability of smoking.”
