今年紐約州提交的財政預算案中有一項引發熱議：向汽水等高熱量飲料征收“肥胖稅”。若預算案得以通過，含糖飲料將面臨每盎司1美分的額外征稅。這將給州政府帶來每年10億美元左右的財政收入，同時敦促人們減少汽水消費。然而漲價是否真能使消費者望而卻步，轉而支持健康飲食呢?

Here in New York, the pending state budget includes one provision that’s probably making more news than the rest of the budget’s contents combined: a tax on nondiet soda and other high-calorie drinks. If the budget is passed by the legislature, sugary drinks would be slapped with an extra penny-per-ounce excise tax. The idea is to both raise money for the state—an estimated billion dollars a year—and motivate people to consume less soda. But do higher costs really get people to eat more healthfully?

A study published in the March 8th issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine [Kiyah Duffey et al, http://bit.ly/9ppe4O] says yes. Researchers tracked the eating habits and health of over 5,000 young adults for two decades. They found that a 10 percent increase in the price of soda was associated with a 7 percent decrease in soda calories consumed. Higher prices were also associated with lower total calorie intake, lower body weight and improved insulin resistance.

The higher tax is, of course, a political decision, not a scientific one. But the science does support the idea that such sin taxes accomplish their healthful intent.

—Steve Mirsky