January 07, 2014
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Sugary drink tax may lower diabetes, obesity risk in India

The implementation of a 20% sugar-sweetened beverage tax could slow the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in India, according to data published in PLOS Medicine.

“These findings offer substantial contributions to the existing literature on non-communicable disease prevention in low- and middle-income countries,” researchers wrote.

Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD, of the Prevention Research Center; Centers for Healthy Policy, Primary Care and Outcomes Research; Center on Poverty and Inequality; and Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University; and of the department of public health and policy at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues used consumption and price variation data from the Indian National Sample Survey (including 100,855 Indian households).

They estimated that a 20% tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) across India could reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity by 3% (95% CI, 1.6-5.9%) and type 2 diabetes incidence by 1.6% (95% CI, 1.2%-1.9%) from years 2014 to 2023.

However, if consumption of SSBs were to continue as predicted by industry marketing models, Basu and colleagues estimate that the tax could prevent 4.2% of prevalent overweight/obesity (95% CI, 2.5%-10%) and 2.5% (95% CI, 1%-2.8%) of incident type 2 diabetes.

In an accompanying editorial, Tony Blakely, MBChB, MPH, PhD, FAFPHM, from the department of public health at the University of Otago in Wellington, New Zealand, and colleagues wrote that the analysis adds important new contributions to modeling taxes on SSBs.

“The world is experiencing massive demographic, epidemiologic, economic, and environmental shifts,” they wrote. “There is the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, as well as aging populations, changing levels of poverty and inequality, and strained health sector budgets.”

Therefore, Blakely and colleagues suggest that taxing foods such as SSBs could be one way to address future challenges associated with disease.

For more information:

Basu S. PLOS Med. 2014; 11(1):e1001582.

Blakely T. PLOS Med. 2014; 11(1):e1001583.

Disclosure: Popkin reports speaking on hydration at a symposium sponsored by Danome Water at The Nutrition Society (British), and assisting colleagues at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico with a grant on sugar sweetened beverages vs. water funded by Danome Water, and was a coinvestigator on another randomized controlled trial of water vs. diet beverages vs. sugar-sweetened beverages funded by Nestle. Stuckler is a member of the editorial board for PLOS Medicine. All other researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.