The new generation of artificial sweeteners was meant to be less harmful than the previous generation. A new study suggests they might be just as harmful.
For parents, encouraging healthy family diets for children from the time they are babies is one way to keep children’s blood sugar levels in check. The Indonesian government can do more to help too.
Taxation of sugar-sweetened drinks is not only inequitable, but also has the potential to create or perpetuate weight stigma, which has negative effects on mental and physical health.
The evidence is clear: a tax on sugary drinks would reduce consumption. All that’s needed is political leadership that prioritises health above the profits.
A ban on sugary drinks sale and advertisements in schools is likely to hold more promise in improving the diets of children and help prevent obesity in children than voluntary actions.
Governments must take urgent action to prevent noncommunicable diseases from becoming an uncontrollable epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Sugar-sweetened beverage taxation offers a potential solution.
Rwanda’s food policies focus on production to make sure people have livelihoods and enough nutritious food. Not much attention is given to overnutrition.
Tension between the government’s economic and public health priorities is preventing stronger fiscal measures to address nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases.
A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages may be intended to improve health, but for Indigenous consumers, such a tax would be unethical, contravene tax law and undermine Indigenous rights.
Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand
Senior Researcher, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, PRICELESS SA, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wits School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand