Project: Analysis of the official resolution to implement the IEPS tax, to sugar beverages. August 5, 2023

1. Project: Analysis of the official resolution to implement the IEPS tax, to sugar beverages
1- What are the arguments of the DOF article?
 High consumption of sugar-added beverages in Mexico leads to high prevalence of overweight
and obesity in the country consequently resulting in a high prevalence of chronic diseases such
as hypertension and diabetes.
2- Which consistencies or inconsistencies did you find in the document?
 The author was consistent in presenting his claim of the high prevalence of overweight and
obesity caused the increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes. And that
he/she believes consuming sugary beverages is a bad issue and if reduced it will ultimately
reduce the public health issue of overweight and obesity-causing diseases. The inconsistencies
however that the statistics was vague without any sound evidence.
3- Which biases or errors did you find in the argument (bad arguments, fallacies, omissions, false
inferences, and deception statistics)?
 First of all correlation is not causation. Having a high prevalence of sugary beverages is not
necessarily the cause of the high prevalence of overweight and obesity as well as no sound and
significant evidence were provided to support the claim. Secondly, there are other factors in play
that result in weight gain such as a bad diet (not only sweet beverages in-take), sedentary life,
genetics etc. In my opinion, it was a bad argument with no statistics to support it. Claiming high
prevalence without showing the statistics is deceptive. As well inferring that high consumption
of sweet beverages resulted in high weight gain which resulted in chronic diseases with no proof
is false inference. As well as omitting other factors that are playing a role in weight gain and the
increase of chronic illness. Overall, it was a bad argument.
4- Can conclusions be drawn from the arguments?
 It can be concluded that the author is trying to reduce sugar intake by imposing a tax initiative
with the hope that this will discourage people from using sugar in their beverages. However,
there was no sound evidence given to support the claims made by the writer regarding this issue.
So no proof of causation that only sugary drinks resulted in a high prevalence of overweight and
obesity in Mexico. And the tax will not stop people from buying flavored beverages.
5- Is the person’s point of view derived from his or her research?
 I believe the person did little research and built assumptions and opinions based on that since the
person did not include any sound evidences to support his/her claims. And has a strong belief
that only sweetened beverages were the cause of the overweight and obesity issue rather than
looking in depth at the whole scope of the issue in a systematic and holistic manner.
6- How are you ordering your own arguments (to avoid being unfocused)?
 First it is important to discuss the question and state the purpose or goal I am trying to reach.
Therefore, I would begin by explaining the problem of overweight and obesity increase in
Mexico by stating statistics showing the increase over the years. I would then provide the
statistics on sweet beverage consumption in the country as well as state its negative effects on
health. Secondly, a good comparison of results from other countries that prove reducing sweet
beverages reduced weight and ultimately chronic health diseases. I will also mention the scope of
food items and activities that result in overweight and obesity to be accurate and honest about the
situation and that not only one factor determines our weight. Finally, I will check evidence-based
initiatives done in other parts of the world and discuss their rate of success and failure. This will
help in taking the right decision regarding the matter in order to solve the problem in an efficient
way (Implications and consequences). Finally, after gathering all the information and assuring its
accurate I will summarize the important points and give my opinion regarding the matter as a
concluding statement.