Soft-Drink Tax Could Pare Waistlines, Cover Health-Care Costs. About 32% American adults are obese. The rate of obesity, a major cause of diabetes, stroke, and heart attacks, has more than doubled in the last 30 years The penny-per-ounce tax proposed would amount to a 15 to 20% increase in price, could raise $937 million in New York, $1.2 billion in Texas, and $1.8 billion in California. That price increase would translate to about a 10 % decrease in calorie intake for most people. Medical spending for obesity is estimated to have reached $147 billion in 2008.
