A public health survey revealed that the majority of residents in Southern California favor a proposed law to raise taxes on sugary drinks and tighten up guidelines for junk food advertisements targeting children.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health publicized the results of the study during the height of a disagreement between health advocates and the beverage industry.
Paul Simon, head of chronic disease prevention for the county and the study's lead author, and his colleagues conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 adults living in Los Angeles County. The researchers found out that respondents from low-income families support the higher tax and stricter advertisement guidelines. These families had the highest rate of diabetes and obesity when compared to other families in the county, the New York Daily News reported.
Simon also explained that nearly 75 percent of the survey participants of a 2011 assessment of public perception on health issues expressed support for an increase in soda tax, while 25 percent agreed to decrease the amount of junk food ads shown to children.
Through the years, public health advocates in the country have called for measures to curb the consumption of junk food and sugary drinks. But their efforts were often blocked by voters and lawmakers who disagreed with enacting new laws regarding tax regulations.
In Illinois, lawmakers turned down a policy taxing soda purchases at one cent per ounce. Last year, a soda tax proposition also failed to pass in the state Legislature of California. Meanwhile, a measure calling for warning labels included in sodas successfully passed California's Senate last week.
Researchers believed that the findings of their study may be described as regressive since it could be a discriminatory tool against families with lower incomes. Once higher taxes are enacted, these families may find it more difficult to buy food.
"Nonetheless we found in our study that there is more support among those groups," Simon told New York Daily News.
