Research and policy coalition for reduction of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

 

The nutrition transition in South Asia, both in the rapidly urbanizing population and in peri-urban and rural areas, has led to diets that include a high amount of ultra-processed food, including sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Aggressive marketing of SSB industries, along with inadequate policy, low compliance and weak enforcement of existing policies, is leading to high consumption of SSBs, particularly among children and youth in the countries of focus. Evidence from global research suggests that SSB labels, both text or image-based, reduce young people’s predicted preferences for, and reported probability of purchasing, SSBs. This also influences parents’ willingness to purchase SSBs for their children. Calorie information may also reduce selection and consumption, specifically of SSBs.

This project seeks to build momentum for a more effective regulatory and fiscal policy in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and, ultimately, across the region. The project will undertake analysis of current policies and laws as well as SSB marketing practices and then co-create culturally relevant and understandable package labels. This will serve as the basis for policy recommendations for contextually appropriate labelling to inform consumer choice and improve diet-related health outcomes.

This project is part of a cohort supporting diverse and multi-actor coalitions that combine collaborative learning networks and communities of practice, operating at multiple scales, to collectively support the production, consumption of and access to healthy diets for all, particularly the most vulnerable, emphasizing sustainable systems that contribute to the health of people and ecosystems.