According to a new study, the introduction of the government’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) has led to an 8% reduction in obesity among 10-11 year old girls.
The study by Nina Rogers of the Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine and her colleagues found that the decline in obesity among young girls coincided with the 2018 sugar tax.
In the new study, the researchers used annual repeated cross-sectional data on more than a million children in state-run English primary schools. Students aged 4-5 and 10-11 were followed between September 2013 and November 2019.
Obesity rates
The researchers compared obesity rates 19 months after SDIL with predicted obesity rates if SDIL had not been in place, controlling for each child’s gender and the level of deprivation in their school area.
They found a relative decline in obesity rates of 8% – an absolute decline of 1.6 percentage points – for girls aged 10-11 years. The largest decline was found among girls in the most vulnerable quintiles, with an absolute decline in obesity prevalence of 2.4 percentage points in the most vulnerable quintiles.
However, there was no overall change in obesity rates for 10-11 year old boys, although the least deprived quintile saw an absolute increase in obesity rates of 1.6%, equivalent to a relative increase of 10.1%.
“Positive results”
“Our findings suggest that the UK SDIL has led to a positive health impact in the form of reduced obesity in girls aged 10-11 years,” the authors said. “Further strategies are needed to reduce the prevalence of obesity among primary school children in general, and particularly among older and younger boys.”
“We have shown for the first time that the UK soft drink tax has likely helped prevent thousands of children from becoming obese each year.”
Meanwhile, in December, food and drink companies reported sharp reductions in sugar consumption in the Government’s Sugar Reduction Programme: An Industry Update, but the industry was criticized for its failure to meet voluntary targets.