Did you know that how much money you make could predict what kind of soda coupons you’re most likely to use? It sounds pretty crazy, but according to new research by the New York City Health Department, income divides soda drinkers.
The Health Department collected date on soda consumption habits in the different neighborhoods of the city and found that residents of Chelsea and Greenwich Village – two trendy, fashion-conscious neighborhoods –are the least likely to sip on sugary soft drinks. Only 11.2 percent of people in those areas reported drinking at least one soda a day, while the Upper East Side and Upper West Side were a distant second with 18.4 percent of people consume at least one soda a day.
The really shocking finding is that the poorest districts of the city were the areas where soda consumption was highest. In the Flatbush and East Flatbush neighborhoods of Brooklyn, 45.7 percent of adults reported that they consumed a soft drink daily. The South Bronx wasn’t far behind with 45.5 percent.
"That number is shockingly high to me -- it's disturbing," said City Councilman Jumaane Williams said of the Brooklyn neighborhoods he represents. NYC has famously pushed to reduce soda consumption with aggressive advertising campaigns and an attempted ban on the use of food stamps to buy sugary drinks.
"If you overlay a map of sugary-drink consumption and obesity, they coincide an awful lot," said NYC City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley, who was disappointed that the no-food-stamps-for-soda initiative failed. Farley believes that, if the city’s 1.7 million food stamp residents could no longer use soda coupons, stores would shift their stock to accommodate consumers and the whole city would benefit from healthier options.
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