As high obesity rates continue to be a health concern for Canadians, there is growing interest in introducing a sugar sweetened beverage tax.
While some believe a pop tax would act as a deterrant, similar to taxing tobacco, experts say that people of lower socioeconomic status would not benefit.
Natalie Riediger, a professor of Health Sciences and Human Nutrition at the University of manitoba, says that regulating advertising and improving access to healthy foods are more beneficial solutions.
Ultimately, she says that raising people out of poverty should be the long term goal to improve nutrition and reduce obesity.
Dr. Natalie Riediger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Manitoba First Nations Centre for Aboriginal Health Research.
Download our podcast
Interview by Dane Wanniarachige, journalist intern at EvidenceNetwork.ca.
This free ebook is a compilation of the EvidenceNetwork.ca commentaries published in major newspapers in 2015, written by experts in the health policy field.
