The study, titled: "Averting Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in India through Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation: An Economic-Epidemiologic Modeling Study,” simulates the health and economic consequences of enacting a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in India. While tobacco taxation policy is widely lauded as a cost-effective means of reducing non-communicable disease, questions remain about whether similar policies could be applied to other potentially harmful products. Sugar-sweetened beverages are one of many consumables blamed for the rise in obesity and resulting health conditions. As the prevalence of these costly conditions rises, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, policy-makers are considering various courses of action to stem their growth.
Using consumption and price variations data from nationally representative surveys, Dr. Ebrahim and his colleagues’ findings suggest that a 20% sugar-sweetened beverage tax would mitigate rising obesity and type 2 diabetes in India, with the largest relative effect among young rural men.
To download the PDF version of the study, follow this link. Dr. Ebrahim is affiliated with the South Asia Network for Chronic Disease (SANCD), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) in New Delhi, India, and the Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in London, United Kingdom.