 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
There is little doubt that sugar-sweetened drinks are being over-consumed in many parts of the world. They are a relatively low cost, highly advertised product with a high-kilojoules content and no nutritional value. They should be, at best, an occasional beverage choice for the average consumer, not the most frequent and preferred beverage choice. Studies from around the world suggest that for many people soft drinks are their most-consumed beverage.
Intuitively it seems likely that placing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would reduce their consumption. Real world experience has shown that though this is the case, the overall decrease in consumption can be quite small. It should also be noted that even in countries where soft drink consumption is in significant decline, overweight and obesity rates have continued to rise. What this makes plain is that sugar-sweetened drinks are only a partial cause of the Western world's obesity epidemic.
Addressing the causes of obesity requires a multi-pronged approach. The analogy with cigarettes and lung cancer is too simple. Cigarettes are the predominant cause of lung cancer worldwide. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are a partial cause of obesity, playing their part alongside a range of other factors including the consumption of fat-laden convenience and fast foods and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, itself the result of a wide range of societal factors, including the ever-increasing popularity of electronic entertainment devices.
Clearly it would be premature to see the imposition of a sugar tax in Great Britain as marking a major turning point in that country's battle with obesity. However, it does appear to mark a major change in attitude. It is significant that this action has been taken by a Conservative government, traditionally opposed to tax increases generally and impositions on private enterprise in particular. The tax indicates recognition on the part of government that obesity is a major health issue that it must address. What is to be hoped is that the tax will form the first plank in a range of initiatives designed to improve the health of British citizens.
The situation in Australia is interesting. Australia has been a world leader in imposing taxes and other restrictions on cigarette companies. Smoking rates have declined rapidly in this country and Australian initiatives to discourage the sale of cigarettes have been copied in other jurisdictions.
Australia has been less successful in its attempts to reduce the impact of fast food and sugar-sweetened products on its citizens. A recent study has indicated Australia's relative failure to regulate the type of food product advertising to which children are exposed. Self-regulation within this area has not resulted in positive outcomes. At the same time, the variety of mediums within which such advertising can be placed is increasing. In an opinion piece published in The Conversation on December 1, 2015, Jane Martin, executive manager of the Obesity Policy Coalition and Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, stated, 'Food manufacturers' influence extends well beyond individual advertisements. It relies on huge volumes and placement within a range of platforms, such as websites, mobile phone apps, interactive games, billboards at bus stops and promotions in supermarkets. This ensures junk food advertising is wallpaper in our children's lives.' Australia's efforts to reduce this impact have been regrettably half-hearted. It is remarkable, for example, that a number of Victorian governments have allowed McDonalds to open outlets within children's hospitals.
It will be interesting to see when, if at all, Australian governments decide to join battle with the fast food and soft drink industry in the manner in which they have tackled the tobacco industry. What appears to have been one of the driving forces within Great Britain is the developing public health crisis within that country as a result of poor eating habits and resultant obesity. Australia is similarly placed on the edge of a public health precipice with predictions that the incidence of overweight and obesity among our current generation of children may make them the first in our history not to live longer than their parents.