Photo by ktpupp via Flickr.
Overall, across America, about 15% of children and one-third of adults have gone longer than a year without a dental visit, federal data show.
But rates of children and adults getting oral health services, and factors that can represent barriers to access – including provider shortages and the cost of care – vary from state to state.
Soda taxes, it seems, are gaining some pop.
Voters in several U.S. cities in California and Colorado overwhelmingly approved additional pennies-on-the-ounce taxes in the Nov. 8 election in a move to help combat the nation’s ongoing obesity crisis and generate health funding. The Chicago area also narrowly passed soda taxes in a separate vote. Continue reading
Photo: A Day In Portland Maine via photopin (license)
The debate on soda taxes is back, this time in Philadelphia.
City leaders there want to charge 1.5 cents for every ounce of soda sold in a move aimed at not just discouraging sugary drink consumption but also to help fund a range of initiatives such as expanded prekindergarten and library renovations, according to media reports. Continue reading
Photo: Ana Ulin via Flickr
Every five years, the federal government comes out with a new edition of its dietary guidelines. The official nutritional recommendations help shape America’s school lunch menus, influence grocery shopping trends, and of course, generate a flurry of news coverage.
The big question for reporters – and their readers, listeners and viewers is always “what’s new?” Continue reading
Photo: Uwe Hermann via Flickr
Under the influence of the sugar industry decades ago, federal health officials stepped back from an ambitious campaign to wipe out tooth decay, according to a newly published study.
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed previously unexplored sugar industry documents from the 1960s and early 1970s to reach their conclusions. The paper describing the findings appeared in March in PLOS Medicine.
The documents trace industry interactions with the National Institute of Dental Research (now the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) during a period when health officials were planning to launch the National Caries Program, an initiative with a goal of eradicating tooth decay within a decade. Continue reading
Tom Lochner
In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 elections, Tom Lochner covered the debate over soda tax questions on the ballots in Berkeley and San Francisco. When the results became clear, he reported on the outcome for the Contra Costa Times.
In this Q&A, Lochner offers his insights into how the historic vote in Berkeley unfolded, why the soda tax didn’t pass in San Francisco and he shares a few words of wisdom for reporters who may find themselves covering soda tax debates in their own communities.
Berkeley’s penny-an-ounce tax passed in spite of heavy opposition from the American Beverage Association. Bourque predicted a sea change in the air. “The tides have turned on Big Soda.”
In this Q&A, Lochner offers his insights into how the historic vote in Berkeley unfolded and he shares a few words of wisdom with reporters who may find themselves covering soda tax debates in their own communities.
