The soft drink sugar tax may have prevented over 5,000 cases of obesity in year six girls, a new study has found.
According to research from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, the introduction of the sugar tax in England was followed by a drop in the number of cases of obesity among older primary school children.
Cambridge researchers tracked changes in the levels of obesity in children in British primary schools between reception and year six between 2014 and 2020. Taking account of previous trends in obesity levels, they compared changes in levels of obesity 19 months after the sugary drinks tax came into effect in 2018.
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The study found the soft drinks levy was associated with an 8% reduction in obesity levels in girls aged 10 and 11 – equivalent to preventing 5,234 cases of obesity per year.
However, the study found no “significant” association between the levy and obesity levels in year six boys or younger children from reception class.
It comes as obesity has become a global public health problem. In England, one in ten reception age children (four to five years old) is living with obesity and this figure doubles to one in five children in year six (10 to 11 years).
In the UK, young people consume significantly more added sugars than is recommended – by late adolescence, they typically consume 70g of added sugar per day, more than double the recommended amount (30g).
The study found a large source of this is sugar-sweetened drinks, children from deprived households are more likely to be at risk of obesity and to be heavy consumers of sugar-sweetened drinks.
“We urgently need to find ways to tackle the increasing numbers of children living with obesity, otherwise we risk our children growing up to face significant health problems,” Dr Nina Rogers from the MRC Epidemiology Unit at Cambridge University said.
“That was one reason why the UK’s soft drinks industry levy was introduced, and the evidence so far is promising. We’ve shown for the first time that it is likely to have helped prevent thousands of children each year becoming obese.
“It isn’t a straightforward picture, though, as it was mainly older girls who benefited. But the fact that we saw the biggest difference among girls from areas of high deprivation is important and is a step towards reducing the health inequalities they face.”
Senior author from the MRC Epidemiology Professor Jean Adams also commented: “We know that consuming too many sugary drinks contributes to obesity and that the UK soft drinks levy led to a drop in the amount of sugar in soft drinks available in the UK, so it makes sense that we also see a drop in cases of obesity, although we only found this in girls.”
“Children from more deprived backgrounds tend to consume the largest amount of sugary drinks, and it was among girls in this group that we saw the biggest change.
She explained that it is unclear why the sugar tax might affect obesity prevalence in girls and boys differently, especially since “boys are higher consumers of sugar-sweetened beverages,” Adams said.
“One explanation the researchers put forward is the possible impact of advertising – numerous studies have found that boys are often exposed to more food advertising content than girls, both through higher levels of TV viewing and in how adverts are framed.”
The news comes as low-income households are spending £250 million more a year on some of the unhealthiest food and drink categories than higher-earning families, new research has revealed.
