NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A bill that will tax sugared beverages will be introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly in a few months, the Tennessean reports. The measure is based on Vanderbilt University research.

Headed by Scott Hagan, president of Vanderbilt??s American Medical Student Association chapter, the group of students has been working on Give Tennessee Kids a Chance campaign for a year. Their research has linked sugar-sweetened drinks to childhood obesity.

"Thirty-five percent of Tennessee??s kids are obese, so the chances of them being obese as adults is 80 percent," said Hagan. "We could be the first generation that has a shorter life span than the previous generation."

In March, state Rep. Mike Stewart sponsored a bill that would add a penny per ounce tax on bottled, sugar-sweetened drinks. The measure also lowers the state food tax by 1 percent. "No one likes taxes, but it??s better to put your taxes on things like beer and sugar-sweetened drinks that are nice to have, but not necessities," Stewart said.

The so-called soda tax might generate as much as $8 million in state revenue, but reducing the food tax could lower local tax revenue by around $3 million, according to Stewart. He will be working on the bill and plans to present it again to the Assembly by the summer.

Raymond Thomasson, president of the Beverage Association of Tennessee, pointed out that other research has contradicted the Vanderbilt study. "There??s been no science that indicates that sugared beverages are contributing to the national obesity epidemic," said Thomasson. "I also think it??s unfair to single out one particular product to raise taxes on. We??re about healthier people, but we??re not going to roll over and play dead while people put a tax on our products."