Sin tax on beverages will help combat diabetes: Doctors

Chennai: With the Government of India planning to introduce a sin tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in India, doctors are hoping that prevalence of Type-II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases may reduce in the state.“Ten per cent of Tamil Nadu’s population suffers from Type- II diabetes and 15 per cent from cardiovascular diseases, let alone other diseases like obesity and hypertension,” said diabetologist Dr Thomas. The tax will come in handy to reduce the numbers, he added.

According to the statement in support of a SSB tax in the country that had been sent to key members of Parliament last week: “Much of the increase is attributable to a cause we can address: the dramatic changes in the Indian diet.” It stressed on the need to introduce a tax on SSBs in ways similar to that on tobacco. Despite WHO restricting the standard sugar consumption to not more than six spoons a day, companies and restaurants are busy violating the norm.
“Earlier, we never had such problems. However, today, even junk food such as chips has some amount of hidden sugar in it,” said Dr Dharini Krishnan, consultant dietitian.

“Drinks that we think are healthy also tend to have sugar in them. It is therefore best to resort to consumption of fruits,” she said. “Consumption of large amounts of sugar does not directly translate into cardiovascular diseases. It leads to obesity and diabetes before it reaches the heart,” said cardiologist Dr Anand Gnanaraj. In a BBC interview, head of Coke, Europe, James Quincey tried to justify the 22 sashes of sugar in a small can by saying “people enjoy it!”
“Not only is bad for adults, but for children too. Just because they are children, we cannot give them all the sugar they want,” said nutritionist Dr Nidhi R.     

“Due to the vast quantities of sugar that is gulped down as a result of these beverages, much of the population has become obese,” said a health official. “Parents nowadays are the reason that obesity is becoming common among young children,” he added. A 2014 Stanford University study concluded that a 20 per cent tax on SSBs in India would avert 11.2 million cases of overweight/obesity and 4,00,000 cases of type-II diabetes between 2014 and 2023. “With over 60 million people with type –II diabetes, the Indian government has a duty to its citizens to address a crisis that causes such misery, and that threatens to break an already over-burdened public health system,” read the statement.