Childhood obesity – a sign of commercial success, but a market failure

Moodie, Rob; Swinburn, Boyd; Richardson, Jeff; Somaini, Bertino

doi:10.1080/17477160600845044

Cited by 66 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…They described several conditions that needed to be met for taxation to be successful, including making it clear that the aim of taxation is to reduce consumption and that the revenue generated from the taxation should be allocated to publicly-supported health promotion initiatives. Similar conclusions have been drawn in the literature on this topic [35]. …”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Yes, The Government Should Tax Soft Drinks: Findings from a Citizens’ Jury in Australia

Moretto

Kendall

Whitty

et al. 2014

IJERPH

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Taxation has been suggested as a possible preventive strategy to address the serious public health concern of childhood obesity. Understanding the public’s viewpoint on the potential role of taxation is vital to inform policy decisions if they are to be acceptable to the wider community. A Citizens’ Jury is a deliberative method for engaging the public in decision making and can assist in setting policy agendas. A Citizens’ Jury was conducted in Brisbane, Australia in May 2013 to answer the question: Is taxation on food and drinks an acceptable strategy to the public in order to reduce rates of childhood obesity? Citizens were randomly selected from the electoral roll and invited to participate. Thirteen members were purposively sampled from those expressing interest to broadly reflect the diversity of the Australian public. Over two days, participants were presented with evidence on the topic by experts, were able to question witnesses and deliberate on the evidence. The jurors unanimously supported taxation on sugar-sweetened drinks but generally did not support taxation on processed meats, snack foods and foods eaten/ purchased outside the home. They also supported taxation on snack foods on the condition that traffic light labelling was also introduced. Though they were not specifically asked to deliberate strategies outside of taxation, the jurors strongly recommended more nutritional information on all food packaging using the traffic light and teaspoon labelling systems for sugar, salt and fat content. The Citizens’ Jury suggests that the general public may support taxation on sugar-sweetened drinks to reduce rates of obesity in children. Regulatory reforms of taxation on sugar-sweetened drinks and improved labelling of nutritional information on product packaging were strongly supported by all members of the jury. These reforms should be considered by governments to prevent childhood obesity and the future burden on society from the consequences of obesity.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Yes, The Government Should Tax Soft Drinks: Findings from a Citizens’ Jury in Australia

Moretto

Kendall

Whitty

et al. 2014

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Secondly, NCDs are exacerbated by the global marketing of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food [92,93]. Despite their differences, tobacco, alcohol and food manufacturers and retailers all share an economic interest in expanding markets for the risk factors that are driving the global epidemic of NCDs [94-97].…”

Section: Challenges To the Effective Use Of Law In Response To Ncdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of law and governance reform in the global response to non-communicable diseases

Magnusson

Patterson

2014

Globalization and Health

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Addressing non-communicable diseases (“NCDs”) and their risk-factors is one of the most powerful ways of improving longevity and healthy life expectancy for the foreseeable future – especially in low- and middle-income countries. This paper reviews the role of law and governance reform in that process. We highlight the need for a comprehensive approach that is grounded in the right to health and addresses three aspects: preventing NCDs and their risk factors, improving access to NCD treatments, and addressing the social impacts of illness. We highlight some of the major impediments to the passage and implementation of laws for the prevention and control of NCDs, and identify important practical steps that governments can take as they consider legal and governance reforms at country level.We review the emerging global architecture for NCDs, and emphasise the need for governance structures to harness the energy of civil society organisations and to create a global movement that influences the policy agenda at the country level. We also argue that the global monitoring framework would be more effective if it included key legal and policy indicators. The paper identifies priorities for technical legal assistance in implementing the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013–2020. These include high-quality legal resources to assist countries to evaluate reform options, investment in legal capacity building, and global leadership to respond to the likely increase in requests by countries for technical legal assistance. We urge development agencies and other funders to recognise the need for development assistance in these areas. Throughout the paper, we point to global experience in dealing with HIV and draw out some relevant lessons for NCDs.

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“…By comparison, the list of products that would maintain a healthy energy intake (eg fruit and vegetables) or increased physical activity (eg bicycles) is much shorter and their marketing budgets are tiny [17]. …”

Section: Obesity As a Commercial Success But Market Failurementioning

confidence: 99%

Obesity prevention: the role of policies, laws and regulations

Swinburn

2008

Aust N Z Health Policy

156

130

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The commercial drivers of the obesity epidemic are so influential that obesity can be considered a robust sign of commercial success -consumers are buying more food, more cars and more energysaving machines. It is unlikely that these powerful economic forces will change sufficiently in response to consumer desires to eat less and move more or corporate desires to be more socially responsible. When the free market creates substantial population detriments and health inequalities, government policies are needed to change the ground rules in favour of population benefits.Concerted action is needed from governments in four broad areas: provide leadership to set the agenda and show the way; advocate for a multi-sector response and establish the mechanisms for all sectors to engage and enhance action; develop and implement policies (including laws and regulations) to create healthier food and activity environments, and; secure increased and continued funding to reduce obesogenic environments and promote healthy eating and physical activity.

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Childhood obesity – a sign of commercial success, but a market failure

Cited by 66 publications

References 36 publications

Yes, The Government Should Tax Soft Drinks: Findings from a Citizens’ Jury in Australia

Yes, The Government Should Tax Soft Drinks: Findings from a Citizens’ Jury in Australia

The role of law and governance reform in the global response to non-communicable diseases

Obesity prevention: the role of policies, laws and regulations

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