▁in ▁many ▁countries ▁and ▁be verage ▁produ cers ▁like ▁C oca - Col a ▁often ▁opp ose ▁it . ▁Adv oc ates ▁such ▁as ▁national ▁medical ▁associations ▁and ▁the ▁World ▁Health ▁Organ ization ▁promote ▁the ▁tax ▁as ▁an ▁example ▁of ▁P ig ov ian ▁tax ation , ▁aim ed ▁to ▁disc ou rage ▁un he alth y ▁di ets ▁and ▁offset ▁the ▁growing ▁economic ▁costs ▁of ▁ob es ity . ▁ ▁Design ▁An ▁article ▁by ▁a ▁group ▁of ▁health ▁econom ists , ▁published ▁in ▁the ▁journal ▁Science ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 9 , ▁noted ▁that ▁most ▁tax es ▁on ▁sugar - s we eten ed ▁be ver ages ▁are ▁set ▁vol um etr ically ▁( i . e ., ▁with ▁a ▁constant ▁rate ▁per ▁unit ▁volume ), ▁and ▁that ▁" only ▁three ▁S SB ▁tax es ▁world wide ▁are ▁proportional ▁to ▁sugar ▁content ." ▁The ▁study ▁argued ▁that ▁such ▁vol um et ric ▁tax es ▁" are ▁poor ly ▁target ed ▁to ▁the ▁actual ▁health ▁har ms ▁from ▁S SB s ," ▁and ▁suggested ▁tax ing ▁the ▁amount ▁of ▁sugar ▁in ▁be ver ages , ▁rather ▁than ▁the ▁volume ▁of ▁liquid ▁accomp any ing ▁the ▁sugar . ▁The ▁study ▁concluded ▁that ▁this ▁" simple ▁design ▁change ▁... ▁could ▁boost ▁a ▁S SB ▁tax ' s ▁health ▁benefits ▁and ▁overall ▁economic ▁g ains ▁by ▁roughly ▁ 3 0 % ." ▁ ▁History ▁▁ ▁Den mark ▁began ▁tax ing ▁soft ▁drink s ▁and ▁ju ices ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 3 0 s .