A sugar tax is expected to be included in tomorrow’s budget, although it would not come into force until 2018 JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGESMore than a third of young people in Ireland are drinking sugary soft drinks most days of the week. Men and people from poorer backgrounds were more likely to regularly consume fizzy drinks, which are blamed for feeding the country’s growing obesity problem. The findings will be discussed at a cross-border conference in Belfast tomorrow to mark World Obesity Day. Dr Joanna Purdy, of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, is expected to tell the conference that figures from the Revenue Commissioners showed that more than 400 million litres of soft drinks were consumed across the country every year.

Source: The Times October 09, 2016 23:03 UTC