Sir, the BDA should congratulate George Osborne on imposing a tax on sugary drinks in the recent budget in an attempt to reduce the incidence of a major disease in the UK. Unfortunately, he gave that disease the wrong name. It should have been dental caries rather than obesity! This is the one disease where evidence supports sugars having a contributory role.
Obesity, however, is not a disease, but a disorder with just one cause, calorie intake exceeding calorie expenditure.
Hopefully at the legislative stage, the tax will refer to 'non-milk extrinsic sugars' and not just 'sugar'. An error then might result in a tax on milk!
1. Glasgow
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Beeley, J. Sugar tax: Caries is the disease. Br Dent J 220, 378 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.283
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.283