British soft drink tax reduces children’s sugar intake

British children’s intake of sugar from soft drinks has halved in the years after the announcement of a tax on sweet drinks, scientists have found.

The total daily intake of free sugars by children – which added to food and drinks or present in fruit juice, syrup and honey – also fell by 10% in the year after the tax started, research shows.

Free sugars have been linked to a host of serious health problems, from heart disease to type 2 diabetes, making them a major target for public health policy. More than fifty countries have imposed taxes on sugary drinks to improve the health of their populations.

The British ‘soft drinks industry levy’ announced in 2016 and introduced two years later a tax on many drinks that contain more than 5 g of sugar per 100 ml. Policymakers hoped manufacturers would make their drinks less sugary to avoid being hit by the extra costs.

Scientists examined the results of a national nutrition survey among more than 15,600 adults and children to estimate the impact the levy had on sugar intake.

They compared changes in sugar intake with changes in protein intake between 2011 and 2019, as the latter food group is not subject to a similar tax but will still become more expensive due to inflation.

The intake of sugar from soft drinks by adults has fallen by about a third from 2016, while the intake by children has fallen by about half.

In 2018 alone, the daily intake of all free sugars decreased by 5 grams in children and by 11 grams in adults. Most of this reduction – 3 grams in children and 5 grams in adults – was due to sugary drinks alone. Protein intake, on the other hand, was stable.

The study contributes to research into the impact of sugar taxes on public health. An earlier study found that British tax may have done this reduced tooth extractions caused by tooth decay in children.

Researcher and lead author of the study Nina Rogers of the University of Cambridge said per The guardthat the results were “consistent with previous research showing that households showed a reduction in the purchase of sugar from soft drinks one year after the introduction of the levy.”

Nevertheless, experts say Britain still consumes too much sugar.

The World Health Organization recommends that energy from free sugars should account for no more than 5% of diets. This amounts to approximately 30 grams per day for adults, 24 grams for children aged 7 to 10 years and 19 grams for children aged 4 to 6 years.

In 2019, both adults and children still consumed about 45 grams of sugar per day.

Rogers suggested that the country’s new government could build on the success of the levy by including more sugary drinks in the tax. Certain drinks, such as fruit juices and alcoholic drinks, are exempt.

Other researchers recommended expanding these types of taxes to more foods.

Kawther Hashem, a lecturer in public health nutrition at Queen Mary University of London, urged policymakers to “consider applying a similar levy to other discretionary products that make a significant contribution to sugar intake, such as chocolate sweets, to boost diets in a shift in a healthier direction.”

The UK government has already announced plans to tighten sales of sugary energy drinks and reduce junk food advertising.