Time for a sugar tax
The UK government is set to start levying a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks next month. Drinks that contain five or more grams of sugar per 100 milliliters are to be subject to a sugar tax of ￡0.18 per liter (US$0.26), and those containing 8g or more per 100ml are to be taxed at a rate of ￡0. 24 per liter.
The UK Office for Budget Responsibility, which provides independent fiscal oversight, predicts that the sugar tax will only contribute half as much money to the Treasury as originally thought, because many beverage manufacturers have reduced their products’ sugar content in response to the standards set for the sugar tax.
Of course the UK authorities’ main purpose in imposing a sugar tax is not to generate tax revenue, but to improve the nation’s health and cut the costs faced by the National Health Service.
Scientists and other researchers who investigated the sugar tax’s potential impact on health have found that it might contribute to public health by greatly reducing the number of people who suffer from obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.
In view of the negative effect on human health of leanness-enhancing animal feed additives, the Taiwanese government is unwilling to lift restrictions on the import of pork and specific beef products that contain the additive ractopamine.
If the government wants to safeguard people’s health, should it not be similarly concerned about the problem of sugary drinks causing serious health threats like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases? Especially since experts say that having a sweet tooth is very much like drug addiction, and the WHO has published research showing that sugar does even more harm to the human body than tobacco.
Wei Shih-chang
Yilan
Reading program a success
Sherry Hsiao’s story about vaccinations raises two important points: Thinking globally, but acting locally; and integrating literacy development with doctor visits (“Group uses vaccination visits to get kids reading,” March 25, page 3).
Chen You-ta (陳宥達), a resident physician from Taipei Medical University Hospital’s Department of Family Medicine, has designed a Reach Out and Read (ROR) program for children in rural areas of Taiwan based on the original ROR program in Boston, Massachusetts.
Through a formula that includes volunteers, family visits, grandparents and children’s books, Chen’s ROR Taiwan goals are “bridging the generation gap and allowing children in remote areas to find hope through reading.”
Chen clearly sees the importance of reading, and by supplying books for the program, he realizes and solves a common obstacle facing those living in rural areas of the world: access to books.
US studies show that children participating in ROR programs make impressive gains in vocabulary.
However, one need not look any further than Taiwan to find relevant research about the benefits of reading aloud to children. A number of articles by professor Lee Sy-ying (李思穎) at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and others show the importance of access to reading materials and the value of reading stories to children.
The key is compelling comprehensible input in the form of stories for the children to hear and read.
While I am not a physician and do not wish to comment on the use of vaccines, I do think Chen’s program linking doctor’s visits and reading is a positive initiative worth encouraging, commending and expanding upon.
Ken Smith
Wellington, New Zealand
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