According to a recent study presented to the American Heart Association's annual conference, consumption of sugary soft drinks may lead to diabetes and heart related diseases.

The consumption of soft drinks has seen an increase between the years 1990 and 2000, leading to almost 130,000 people getting afflicted with diabetes and 14,000 developing heart disease.

Except for fresh fruit juices, these drinks generally contain 120 to 200 calories per drink.

Researchers are of the view that there should be a health tax on soft drinks so as to manage the increasing costs of treating patients suffering from diabetes and coronary disease.

Dr Litsa Lambrakos, of the University of California said, "We can demonstrate an association between daily consumption of sugared beverages and diabetes risk. We can then translate this information into estimates of the current diabetes and cardiovascular disease that can be attributed to the rise in consumption of these drinks".

Due to the increased consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, about 21,000 life-years are lost in United States.

Dr Lambrakos said, "We want to make the general public more aware of the adverse health outcomes of consuming these drinks over time. We want to help support disease prevention and curb consumption of these drinks that lead to poor health outcomes and increased health care costs for the average American".

Health policy shares that an excise tax of 1 cent per ounce of drink will decrease consumption by 10 percent.