Obama open to 'sin tax' on fizzy drinks to stem obesity

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.9d737b94622e4b9c0387ef0890049a28.381&show_article=1

President Barack Obama hinted he could support a "sin tax" on fizzy
drinks to help lower high rates of US obesity, but admitted it would
be an uphill battle against corporate and economic interests.

"I actually think it's an idea that we should be exploring," Obama
said in the forthcoming issue of Men's Health, regarding potential
taxes levied on soft drinks such as colas and other sugar-filled
products.

"There's no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every
study that's been done about obesity shows that there is as high a
correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just
about anything else," he said in excerpts released ahead of the
magazine's mid-September publication.

The president -- reported to be one of the fittest US
commanders-in-chief in decades -- stressed that "obviously there is
resistance on Capitol Hill to those kinds of sin taxes.

"Legislators from certain states that produce sugar or corn syrup are
sensitive to anything that might reduce demand for those products," he
said.

In addition, "people's attitude is that they don't necessarily want
Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that,"
Obama added.

"It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on
people?s health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption
would be helpful."

His comments come just six weeks after US health experts told a
national conference on obesity in Washington that a significant
portion of increased caloric intake in recent decades can be directly
attributed to soft drinks and other sugared foods and drinks.

The president is currently embroiled in the most compelling domestic
priority of his presidency, a reform of the US health care system.

Obama, who said he works out nearly every day in order to clear his
head and reduce stress, described himself as "a healthy eater" with
low blood pressure.

He keeps a bowl of apples in the Oval Office. "It was our first step
toward health reform," he said.

Two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight and
obesity-related illnesses cost the United States nearly 150 billion
dollars a year, health officials were told at the July conference.