UCLA

Obesity and dental caries formation have a strong correlation with sugar sweetenedbeverage consumption amongst African American and Latino children. The trend of obesity and high caries rates increase drastically when looking at economically disadvantaged African American and Latino housing districts such as the Watts district of Los Angeles, California. The rationale for this paper is to address the knowledge gap between dental caries formation and the cost of sugar sweetened beverages. The methods used in this research project consist of collection of quantitative data and qualitative data. The research aims to be observation, experimental, analytic, and descriptive.

The hypothesis: Primary school children living in low socioeconomic districts of LosAngeles will display a lower prevalence of dental caries formation and obesity over a 2-year period after a Sugar Sweetened Beverage tax is implemented within the borders of their respective housing district. The null hypothesis: Primary school children living in low socioeconomic districts of Los Angeles will display no difference in dental caries formation and obesity over a 2-year period after a Sugar Sweetened Beverage tax is implemented within the borders of their respective housing district. The alternative hypothesis: Primary school children living in low socioeconomic districts of Los Angeles will display differences in dental caries formation and obesity recorded over a 2-year period after a Sugar Sweetened Beverage tax is implemented within the borders of their respective housing district.