Increasing snack cost could help conquer obesity, says research

Increasing the cost of sugary snacks could be more effective at tackling obesity than the tax on sugary drinks, researchers believe.

The introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in April last year has led to a “wave of reformulation” by the drinks industry, the authors of a new BMJ study said.

However, they said a voluntary sugar reduction programme in place since 2016 has seen comparably “modest impacts”, with small reductions in the sugar content of confectionery.

While the sugar levy has targeted consumption of sugary drinks in the UK, high sugar snacks including biscuits, cakes, chocolates and sweets make up more free sugar and energy intake.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cambridge University hypothesised that reducing purchases of these snacks could have a greater impact on population health.

They modelled a scenario where the cost of sugary snacks was increased by 20%, based on food purchase data for 36,324 UK households and National Diet and Nutrition Survey data for 2,544 adults.

They predicted the 20% increase would reduce annual average energy intake by around 8,900 calories, leading to an average weight loss of 1.3kg.

This “plausible” estimate compares with an average weight loss of 203g with the tax on sugary drinks.

The option of a snack tax is “worthy of further research and consideration as part of an integrated approach to tackling obesity”, they added.

The authors wrote: “There is a strong rationale for using fiscal policy to improve diet and health, to change consumer purchasing and encourage manufacturers and producers to reformulate or increase availability of healthier options.”

They said the increase could make an “important contribution” to reducing dietrelated diseases.