Hard-line policy on soft drinks

Increasing adolescent obesity is attracting considerable attention in the United States, and in the absence of significant federal legislative or policy initiatives directed at reducing the problem, California is again leading the way.  

The trim mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, has proposed charging stores a fee for selling sugary sodas, thereby offsetting the health-care costs related to obesity. Newsom has said he expects the rest of the nation eventually to follow suit, in the same way that many government policies on the environment originated in California and later spread across the United States. 

Newsom expects strong resistance and lobbying on the issue from soft-drink companies such as Pepsico and Coca-Cola.  The American Beverage Association (ABA), the trade group for $105-billion-a-year nonalcoholic beverage industry, has already called the mayor's plan a "flawed strategy".

Nevertheless, the beverage industry will be wary of entering a battle in which it can only lose or score a Pyrrhic victory. Acceptance of some limitations on their marketing activities may help soft drink companies avert lawsuits or more stringent regulation.

The industry has already attempted to forestall criticism and costly lawsuits: last year Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the ABA announced a voluntary plan to cease marketing soft drinks in schools, and offer healthier alternatives including bottled water, fruit juice, and low-fat milk.

Soft-drink companies may see San Francisco's initiative as an early opportunity to substitute sales of sugary drinks for -- often higher-margin -- healthier alternatives, and retain its market share.

In the meantime, considerable pressure will build to confront the problem of childhood obesity. More than 9 million children and adolescents (about 16% of all US juveniles) are obese, according to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (AHG), an initiative set up by the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Hearth Association in May 2005.

Many studies have said sodas play a part in this growing epidemic. The potential for new regulations in this area will increase if a Democrat wins the election in 2008 -- although wide-ranging controls are very unlikely. Although his foundation may be crusading agaisnt obesity, Bill Clinton still loves a cool coke and chili dog.