Jorge Cota and his mom Linda Ramos at Children's Hospital in Oakland. Cota weighed more then 320 pounds before cutting cutting soda and junk food from his diet. Photo: Mina Kim/KQED
The California Report Magazine Host: Scott Shafer
Reporter: Mina Kim
From New York City to California, local officials are pushing ideas to get consumers to cut down on soft drinks. Health experts say sugary drinks like Coke and Pepsi contribute to obesity and diabetes. And now two California cities, Richmond and El Monte, are asking voters to approve taxes on those drinks. If voters say yes, they could be the first in the nation to tax sodas, energy drinks and other sugary beverages. But experts disagree on whether getting people to change their behavior is more complicated than adding pennies to the price of a soda.
Original Broadcast: October 12, 2012
