NUTR2004 Assessment 2: Persuasive Essay on Sugar Tax in Australia

This persuasive essay addresses the contentious issue of whether Australia should implement a sugar tax. It begins by outlining the rising obesity rates and related health problems in Australia, citing statistics and reports from organizations like the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and CSIRO. The essay argues in favor of a sugar tax, emphasizing the potential health benefits, such as reduced consumption of sugary drinks and foods, which could lead to lower rates of obesity, type-2 diabetes, and other diseases. It highlights the lack of nutritional value in sugar-sweetened products and suggests that a tax could encourage healthier eating habits while generating revenue for health initiatives. The essay acknowledges counterarguments, such as concerns about increased costs and the impact on the food industry, but ultimately concludes that the benefits of a sugar tax outweigh the drawbacks, advocating for its implementation to improve public health outcomes.

Running head: PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Persuasive Essay on ‘Should Australia introduce a sugar tax?’
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
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1PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Should Australia introduce a sugar tax? For arguments
Introduction
It is a matter of debate for the last few years in Australia that whether there should be tax
on sugar or not. According to The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) biennial
report, obesity has become a major problem in Australia. The country has the 5th highest rate of
obesity for people with age of 15 years and more, and this 1.5 times more than the average
determined by OECD (McLachlan, 2018). It has also been highlighted 31% of the disease of the
people can be prevented is proper measure is taken. As per the latest CSIRO report, the obesity
problem of the Australians are generated from alcohol, confectionaries, chocolates, biscuits,
cookies, cakes and sugar-sweetened beverages. Many countries across the world are considering
the incidence of sugar tax to handle the widespread issue of obesity and other related diseases.
Hence, incidence of tax imposition on sugar has become a much debated issue, and as per my
opinion, tax on sugar will have a positive impact on people’s health as the tax would increase the
prices of products containing much sugar and that would reduce the demand for those products
and also reduce the harmful consumption.
There are quite a few reasons for imposing a sugar tax in Australia. Firstly, health issues
are the primary factor that affects the overall performance of the Australians. It is has been
observed that 2 out of 3 Australian adults and 1 out of 4 Australian children are obese (Lyons,
2018). While in 1980, only 10% Australian adults were obese, in 2018, the number has increased
to 28%, which is one of the highest in the world (Baker & Lawrence, 2018). According to the
medical investigations by Australian Medical Association (AMA), the high-sugar diet is the
major reason for behind the obesity and other related health issues. The Obesity Policy Coalition,

2PERSUASIVE ESSAY
which includes 34 communities in public health, medical and academic organizations, including
the Cancer Council and the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, has recommended that a sugar
tax would discourage people from consuming the food and beverages containing high sugar. For
example, it has been observed that in Mexico, after the first year of imposition the sugar tax, the
sales of the sugery drinks fell by 5% and it declined by 9% in the second year
(fdiworlddental.org, 2018). Furthermore, obesity related health problems are predicted to cost the
country $5.3 billion a year (Clark, 2018). Not only obesity, over-consumption of the sugary
drinks and food also leads to various other diseases, such as, type-2 diabetes, bone density
problems, kidney disease, tooth decay, some cancers and cardiovascular disease (McLachlan,
2018). As per a report by World Dental Federation, consumption of more than 60g of sugars a
day raises the rate of the dental diseases in adults and teenagers. Thus, for limiting the health
issues arising from overconsumption of sugar, the Australian government should impose tax on
sugar.
In the context of nutrition and food value, the sugar-sweetened food and beverages have
no food value (Clark, 2018). Hence, if due to taxation, the price of these products increase and
demand falls, it would not have any negative impact on the nutrition intake of people. These
foods and beverages add large amount of calories but provide very little or zero nutrition. These
also replace more healthy and nutritious food from the list, such as, fruits, milk, vegetables,
which are important for health. Augustin et al. (2016) wrote that in the past there have been
criticisms for manufacturing of staple food like bread, breakfast cereals and yogurt being high in
sugar. However, further studies revealed that 80%-90% of additional sugar intake comes from
occasional food and sugery drinks. While natural sugar of the food is not bad for health, it is the
added sugars that are harmful. The prices of these products are not high and children, teenagers

3PERSUASIVE ESSAY
and adults, all can afford these food and beverages, such as, confectioneries and cold drinks.
Taxation on sugar would increase their price and as per law of demand, the quantity demanded
and purchase will decrease, although the government can earn large amount of tax revenue
(Chaloupka, Powell & Warner, 2019).
The government of Australia can raise a large amount of funding through taxation on
sugar and that amount of money can be reinvested in the developmental projects for the country.
According to a report by Grattan Institute in late 2016, it has been predicted that a sugar tax can
raise more than $500 million a year, and the government can utilize this large amount of money
for health promotions, various health projects and development of medical facilities in the
country (Duckett, 2018). For example, Mexico improved the water infrastructure in the nation
with the collected tax money for encouraging the residents to drink water instead of the sugary
water and other beverages (Clark, 2018).
The government of Australia is opposing the imposition of tax on sugar citing the reason
that the people are already burdened with too many taxes and this additional tax would again
increase the burden of the people (Davey, 2018). It has also been argued that taxation on sugar
would hamper the productivity of the firms producing sugery food and beverages and thereby
will increase the price of these products and reduce the supply in the market. The industry people
also protested this move by saying that various factors can result in obesity, such as, over
consumption of junk food, and hence, it is unfair to tax only sugar for this (Buckton et al., 2019).
However, it can be said that numerous medical studies have revealed that added sugar in the food
and sweetened beverages are largely responsible for creating obesity and various other related
health issues among the Australians and thus, a sugar tax should be imposed for increasing
general awareness among the people.

4PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Lastly, it can be concluded that the Australian government should impose a tax on sugar
to discourage the Australians from over consumption of added sugar and reduce the chances of
obesity, dental caries and other related health issues in the long run. Not only the tax would
increase the price of the products and discourage people from spending money on these, but it
would also help the government to raise a large amount of money in terms of tax revenue, which
the government can reinvest in the health developmental projects.

5PERSUASIVE ESSAY
References
Augustin, M. A., Riley, M., Stockmann, R., Bennett, L., Kahl, A., Lockett, T., ... & Cobiac, L.
(2016). Role of food processing in food and nutrition security. Trends in Food Science &
Technology, 56, 115-125.
Baker, P., & Lawrence, M. (2018). The politics of sugar and poor nutrition in Australia.
Retrieved 9 August 2019, from https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-
body/sweet-power-the-politics-of-sugar-sugary-drinks-and-poor-nutrition-in-australia/
news-story/8ef37f1ec8b03ff62803546f879adeec
Buckton, C. H., Fergie, G., Leifeld, P., & Hilton, S. (2019). A discourse network analysis of UK
newspaper coverage of the “sugar tax” debate before and after the announcement of the
Soft Drinks Industry Levy. BMC public health, 19(1), 490.
Chaloupka, F. J., Powell, L. M., & Warner, K. E. (2019). The use of excise taxes to reduce
tobacco, alcohol, and sugary beverage consumption. Annual review of public health, 40,
187-201.
Clark, E. (2018). The AMA wants sugar-sweetened drinks taxed, but will it happen?. Retrieved 9
August 2019, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-07/calls-for-a-sugar-tax-are-
back-so-it-is-going-to-happen/9309386
Davey, M. (2018). Sugar tax: why health experts want it but politicians and industry are
resisting. Retrieved 9 August 2019, from
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/10/sugar-tax-why-health-experts-
want-it-but-politicians-and-industry-are-resisting

6PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Duckett, S. (2018). Why Australia should have a tax on sugar sweetened beverages?. Retrieved 9
August 2019, from https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Grattan-
submission-on-obesity1.pdf
fdiworlddental.org. (2019). Australia reignites debate for a sugar tax, but lacks government
support. Retrieved 9 August 2019, from
https://www.fdiworlddental.org/news/20180111/australia-reignites-debate-for-a-sugar-
tax-but-lacks-government-support
Lyons, A. (2018). The sugar debate: To tax or not to tax. Retrieved 9 August 2019, from
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/the-sugar-debate-to-tax-or-not-to-tax
McLachlan, E. (2018). Sugar Tax Debate in Australia: Should We Have One?. Retrieved 9
August 2019, from https://www.canstar.com.au/health-insurance/should-we-be-taxing-
sugar/