Letter: Sugary drinks tax not the answer

THE ANC government is good at recognising a problem but not at finding solutions that get to the source of the problem. The latest is the tax on sugary drinks.

These drinks have been around for over 100 years.

The first reference to carbonated lemonade was found in 1833.

The obesity problem first reared its head in the 1970s and ’80s, so how come prior to that sugary drinks were not making people obese?

What has changed since then is the nature of work and increasing affluence. This has brought about increasing sedentary work, more leisure time and increasing intake of food, specifically fast food with larger meal sizes.

So tackling the problem on the fringes with the sugar tax will have little or no effect.

Most of the so-called science that shows an improvement when this tax was introduced is highly suspect as many other factors affecting weight are deemed to remain constant.

Pseudo science at its best.