Adherence
Implementing a small incremental increase in sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax rates (e.g., 13% to 18%) results in only small price increases and small reductions in SSB purchases, which is unlikely to significantly reduce obesity or noncommunicable diseases.
If you are designing public health policy, know that small tax hikes (like 5%) have minimal impact on consumption. To drive significant behavior change, tax rates must be substantial enough to alter shelf prices meaningfully, or they must be part of a broader regulatory strategy.
Our results are consistent with previous evidence indicating that small increases in SSB taxes are unlikely to promote large enough changes in SSB purchases to reduce obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Why this rating
Longitudinal observational study with robust counterfactual modeling, though lacking a randomized control group.
Source
Chile’s 2014 sugar-sweetened beverage tax and changes in prices and purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages: An observational study in an urban environment
Juan Carlos et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2018
DOI 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002597
More from this paper
- Decreasing the tax rate on low-sugar or artificially sweetened beverages (L-SSBs) leads to a significant increase in their purchase volume, potentially offsetting the health benefits of reduced high-sugar beverage consumption.Good
- Higher socioeconomic status (SES) households exhibit a greater reduction in high-sugar beverage purchases in response to SSB tax increases compared to lower SES households.Good
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