Oral

Purpose: We will describe the process and outcomes of efforts to implement taxes on sugary beverages in New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle/King County and Vermont. Methods: An introduction will summarize current state of SSB tax implementation at state and local levels. Next, each site will briefly describe the local context of their SSB tax work. Panel discussion structured around four common themes will follow: definition of SSB,design of tax, outreach and communications (including framing and messaging and mobilization of stakeholder and community support, and industry response. We will conclude with a synthesis of lessons learned with focus on factors that led to success or falling short, with discussion of cross-cutting factors and those unique to each jurisdiction. Relevance and Importance: Obesity is a major public health issue. Excessive caloric intake fuels energy imbalance, leading to obesity. Sugary drinks are a major contributor to this excessive caloric intake, have no nutritive value, are heavily marketed, and are associated with multiple adverse health outcomes. Taxing sugary drinks may raise revenue for obesity prevention, correct market failure in which external costs of sugary drink consumption are not borne by producers and consumers, and decrease consumption. Industry has strongly opposed initial efforts to adopt a tax. Sharing lessons learned about early efforts to develop and adopt tax will encourage others to consider this strategy and help them in their efforts to do so.

Session Objectives: Describe the benefits and risks of a sugary drink tax as means of reducing consumption of sugary drinks Compare the approaches used to design a tax by diverse states and localities Compare the approaches used to adopt a tax by diverse states and localities

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)