GCR Survey USA Today Poll Results: Asked of 500 adults
Would you support or oppose taxing soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks?
21% Support
74% Oppose
5% Not Sure
If a soda tax was implemented, would it hurt soda sales a lot? A little? Or not at all?
37% A Lot
46% A Little
16% Not At All
1% Not Sure
Would a tax on soda affect your household budget a lot? A little? Or not at all?
31% A Lot
40% A Little
28% Not At All
1% Not Sure
How often do you drink soda? Regularly? Occasionally? Or almost never?
55% Regularly
31% Occasionally
14% Almost Never
0% Not Sure
You could call it the next cola wars. There’s no question obesity is a big problem, but is soda to blame? If so, is the way to get people to stop drinking it is to tax sugary drinks like soda. It’s an idea that’s getting a lot of attention nationally and GCR “floated” the idea to people in our area to see what they think about a soda tax.
Soda it’s something most of us all love. “I drink it pretty often,” says soda-drinker Jackie Drew. “I drink it on a daily basis,” says Bree Cohen. “I drink soda about everyday,” says Travis Croson. Most of us do. According to our GCR USA poll more than half of you drink soda on a regular basis.
The folks at the Center of Bariatric Medicine, which helps people lose weight, say soda is public enemy number one.
“I encourage no soda. There’s nothing good about it,” says Jeff Philips, who works at the the Center. A recent UCLA study found 41% of children ages two to 11 drink at least one soda or sweetened beverage a day. “To me it’s actually distressing. I’m distressed when I see what’s the health, the future of our kids,” says Robyn Goodpasture with the Center of Bariatric Medicine.
Some of the nations leading health experts have now come out through the New England Journal of Medicine endorsing the idea of taxing soda. They believe it would help reduce obesity especially in children.
“I think it’s a great idea. We need some way to bring an awareness to the fact that the soda is causing a problem, people do it mindlessly now, they have to think about it,” says Jeff Philips. There’s plenty of opposition, some of it shown in a series of tv ads.
Of the people we surveyed, a majority are against it. Only about a quarter support the tax. “I don’t like the idea of anymore taxes being put on the American family,” says soda-drinker Lisa Holt. “I think it’s ridiculous. I think there’s enough taxes on everything already,” says soda-drinker Bree Crohn. “Tax the honey buns, tax the honey buns,” says soda-drinker Travis Croson. If a tax were implemented would it hurt soda sales a lot? 37% of you say yes, nearly half say no. “I’ll drink it the same. I love it,” says Jackie Drew. Proving a soda tax may be a little hard to swallow.
