Reducing Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in Argentina
Lead institution(s)
Summary
Argentina is one of the world's highest consumers of sugar-sweetened beverages (predominantly sodas). This project will address the problem, and the rapidly increasing rates of obesity and diabetes among youth and adults, through evidence that supports policy development.Read more
Argentina is one of the world's highest consumers of sugar-sweetened beverages (predominantly sodas). This project will address the problem, and the rapidly increasing rates of obesity and diabetes among youth and adults, through evidence that supports policy development. Improved policies, better health Argentina has begun to implement important policies to reduce the country's non-communicable disease burden, including policies for tobacco control and reduced salt and trans-fatty acids. There is now a growing regional public health interest in regulating sugar-sweetened beverages to prevent disease. As awareness of the health impacts of soda consumption grows, government and civil society stakeholders are interested in policy options to decrease consumption. Taxing soda consumption This project aims to generate evidence to inform this policy development. It will: -describe the market process from production to distribution and consumption -explore the regulatory and legal framework -examine feasibility challenges and the potential impact of tax increases on soda consumption -explore mechanisms that will enable these taxes to increase Researchers will assess the magnitude of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with consuming sugar-sweetened drinks. They will model the health and health-cost benefits of reduced soda intake associated with price increases over the next decade. The predicted global increase of non-communicable diseases will disproportionally affect women and poor people, so the project's methods will analyze policy impacts by gender and socio-economic status. The research team is composed of public health experts, physicians, lawyers, sociologists, and economists. It also includes high-level staff from the Ministry of Health. The project team will share the results through scientific papers in open access journals, policy briefs, and media releases.
Research outputs
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The Cardiovascular Disease Policy Model (CVDPM) is a computer simulation model used to represent and project future CVD mortality and morbidity. The objective was to update Argentina’s version of the CVDPM. For this purpose, information from the 2010 National Census, the 2013 National Risk Factor Survey, CESCAS I study, and PrEViSTA study were used to update the dynamics of population size, demographics, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor distributions over time. Results of the project are provided in model predictions and national statistics following calibration. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Argentina.
The study finds that even with conservative assumptions, a relatively small reduction in sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) consumption could lead to a substantial decrease in diabetes incidence, cardiovascular events, and mortality in Argentina. The largest reductions in diabetes and cardiovascular events were observed in the youngest age group modeled (35–44 years) for both men and women. These results support the implementation of policies to reduce SSB consumption, such as a soda tax. Use of taxation as a health policy tool would have the additional advantage of providing a new source of public funds to support healthy lifestyles.
The study tracked legal and public health databases for public and private regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in 14 Latin American (LA) countries, and conducted a systematic review of the available literature. Comparative variations in the type of governance body issuing the regulations, their scope, and binding status were examined. In the past two decades, non-communicable disease (NCD) levels have soared across Latin America, in part due to the fastest growing obesity rates in the world. The paper also assesses the available evidence on new regulatory strategies, their enforcement challenges, and their impacts.
