Type 2 diabetes and its effect on San Francisco residents will be the topic of a hearing requested Tuesday by a member of the city’s Board of Supervisors.
Supervisor Scott Wiener, a co-sponsor of a proposed ballot measure that would impose a tax on sodas and other sugary beverages sold in San Francisco, said those drinks are “a major cause of the explosion of type 2 diabetes” in the city and nationally.
The hearing, which will take place at a board committee meeting, will focus on the causes, prevalence and impacts of type 2 diabetes on San Francisco, particularly on the city’s children.
“It will be very helpful in shedding light on the actual science … underlying the growth of type 2 diabetes,” Wiener said.
The city’s budget and legislative analyst has estimated diabetes costs San Francisco residents more than $500 million annually, according to Wiener’s office.
Wiener and other supervisors have proposed for the November ballot a 2 cents-per-ounce tax on sodas and other sugary beverages, with the proceeds going toward city and school nutrition and physical activity programs.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
