Commentary: A tax on sugary drinks not enough on their own to halt obesity in Asia
SINGAPORE: Facing declining markets in Western countries, multinational food companies are targeting Africa, Asia and Latin America as new consumers of packaged foods, in a move that may worsen the global epidemic of chronic affliction related to diabetes.
Governments are hit back at obesity adventure factors, including unhealthy foods. Singapore, which might have as many as one one thousand thousand residents with diabetes past 2050, now requires soda producers to reduce sugar content.
Obesity and other lifestyle-related diseases have at present become a "silent" long-term challenge that will toll governments in healthcare liabilities and lost productivity.
Only improving public health requires more than piecemeal legislation: Governments must promote lifestyle changes through education and improve access to good for you foods.
Not A "RICH ONLY" Affliction
Beyond Asia, rural populations accustomed to active farming jobs are migrating in increasing numbers to urban areas, where they occupy more sedentary manufacturing or service sector jobs. Due to fourth dimension constraints and easy availability of affordable high-calorie foods, these migrant populations are also irresolute their eating habits.
A recently published written report of 98,000 adults in China argues that linking obesity just to affluence is simplistic, and that geographic variations in China'south "nutritional transition" explain differences in public wellness.
Alarmingly, two out of five adults in the Asia Pacific are either overweight or obese. The Earth Heath Organisation estimates that roughly half of the earth's share of adults with diabetes alive in Asia.
The cost of obesity in Asia Pacific is estimated to exist roughly The states$166 billion (or S$226 billion) annually.
Amidst Southeast Asian countries, healthcare and productivity losses from obesity are highest in Indonesia (The states$two billion to US$4 billion), Malaysia (US$1 billion to Usa$2 billion) and Singapore (US$400 million).
In the earth'due south two about populous countries, Red china and Bharat, malnutrition has long been a concern but obesity is on the rising. According to a 2022 New England Journal of Medicine study, the prevalence of obesity in males in India nearly quadrupled between 1980 and 2015.
For China, home to 110 1000000 adults with obesity and potentially 150 million past 2040, the prevalence of obesity increased fifteen times betwixt 1980 and 2015.
Between 2005 and 2015, yearly national income loss due to centre disease, stroke and diabetes increased more vi-fold in Republic of india and seven-fold in Mainland china. Statistics about child health point to a grim futurity.
In India, i quarter of urban youth entering middle schoolhouse are obese and 66 per cent of children have an elevated risk for diabetes, while Cathay is dwelling to the world's largest population of obese children.
Numerous factors could contribute to this trend, including lack of open up space for physical activity, the preference among immature people for sedentary pastimes such as computer gaming, and a growing emphasis on time spent preparing for university entrance exams.
TAXING OBESITY
In that location are many models for how Asia's governments can face obesity. Governments in the United States and Europe are introducing taxes on soft drinks and sugary beverages, with proponents arguing that such beverages contribute to obesity by adding excess calories without providing nutritional value.
Large local governments implementing sugar taxes include Cook County in Illinois, Chicago and Philadelphia, while San Francisco and Seattle plan to implement like taxes in 2018.
Berkeley, California, a city with many high-earning and educated residents, was America's offset to implement a sugary drinkable taxation, in November 2014.
Co-ordinate to a study, sales of sugary beverages in Berkeley declined past x per cent during the first yr of the revenue enhancement and raised roughly United states of america$ane.4 meg in revenue. The city applies proceeds in part to child nutrition and community health programmes.
Although Berkeley is an exceptional case, the spirit of the city's arroyo – including the smart use of revenue – tin can be a guiding principle for Asian cities.
While soda consumption has slumped in the developed West, markets are growing chop-chop in Asia.
THE Saccharide FIGHT
Malaysia, which faces a national obesity crunch, is studying Mexico's tax on sugary beverages equally a model for one of its ain.
Brunei introduced a tax on sugary beverages in April this yr, and the Philippines senate is at present debating an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.
In Thailand, a tax levy on sugary drinks was instituted in September 2017, and will rise gradually over the adjacent vi years.
Governments in Asia accept also shown willingness to face obesity in other ways. India recently instituted a yearly obesity evaluation for all army personnel afterward a survey found one third to exist overweight, and Cathay's army is publicly raising concerns near sugar consumption among recruits.
Republic of india'southward western Maharashtra state banned then-called "junk food" in school canteens over concerns about childhood obesity, and Hong Kong volition soon introduce a labelling scheme for pre-packaged foods in schools.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Despite the adoption or consideration of taxes on sugary drinks in many cities around the world, information technology is not clear whether such taxes positively impact health outcomes.
There is cause for some optimism, such as an Asian Evolution Bank written report finding that a 20 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with a 3 per cent reduction in overweight and obesity prevalence, with the greatest consequence on immature men in rural areas.
From a policy inquiry perspective, long-term studies are needed to determine life-long health impacts, and enquiry across cases is needed to decide the sensitivity of consumption to incremental increases in tax rates.
Gathering data is an important early pace - an case is India'due south diet atlas, which offers a state-by-country comparison on a multifariousness of public health indicators, including obesity.
Another business organization in sugar taxes is socio-economic equity: Taxes on cheap, unhealthy foods can impact low-income populations.
For example, in 2022 Denmark adopted a far-reaching "fat tax" that covered all products with saturated fats. Afterward just one year the tax was scrapped, equally were plans for a sugar tax, due to concerns virtually price burdens for consumers.
A further challenge is limited policy control: Consumers may only shift consumption to non-taxed appurtenances that are as well loftier in carbohydrate, or find ways to circumvent taxes. Notably, many Danish consumers were simply crossing into Germany for cheaper products.
A narrow focus on easy tax solutions may score quick political points but risks leapfrogging basic public health and development goals. For example, alternatives to sugary drinks may non be available in many Asian cities due to poor-quality tap water.
Taxes on sugary beverages must complement broader initiatives that incentivise healthier lifestyles. A 2022 written report of obesity in India argues that related policy must consider nuanced socio-cultural factors over a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
Following Berkeley's example, governments should apply soda revenue enhancement revenue to nutrition and physical instruction programmes, and include information almost sugar in school curricula.
The arroyo should consider local atmospheric condition, enhance education, and provide admission to good for you alternatives. That is the basis for a durable solution to Asia's obesity epidemic.
Asit Thou Biswas is distinguished visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Kris Hartley lectures on city and regional planning at Cornell University. This commentary first appeared in The Chat. Read the original commentary here.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/commentary-tax-sugary-drinks-not-enough-their-own-halt-obesity-asia-292921
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