Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study

Abstract Background Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is contributing to the obesity epidemic. On 28 March 2017, Catalonia enacted a law levying an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages for public health reasons. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the tax on the consumption of...

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Main Authors: Miguel Ángel Royo-Bordonada, Carlos Fernández-Escobar, Lorena Simón, Belen Sanz-Barbero, Javier Padilla
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2019-11-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7908-5
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spelling doaj-fc39a9dd41db42b4a38651dfa80339ad2020-11-25T04:12:26ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582019-11-0119111110.1186/s12889-019-7908-5Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences studyMiguel Ángel Royo-Bordonada0Carlos Fernández-Escobar1Lorena Simón2Belen Sanz-Barbero3Javier Padilla4National School of Public Health, Institute of Health Carlos IIINational School of Public Health, Institute of Health Carlos IIINational Center of Epidemiology, Institute of Health Carlos IIINational School of Public Health, Institute of Health Carlos IIIPrimary Care Health Center Isabel IIAbstract Background Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is contributing to the obesity epidemic. On 28 March 2017, Catalonia enacted a law levying an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages for public health reasons. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Catalonia (Spain). Methods Before-and-after study to assess changes in the prevalence of consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among 1929 persons aged 12 to 40 years residing in low-income neighbourhoods of Barcelona (intervention) and Madrid (control). Beverage consumption frequency was ascertained via a validated questionnaire administered during the month prior to the tax’s introduction (May 2017) and again at 1 year after it had come into force. The effect of the tax was obtained using Poisson regression models with robust variance weighted using propensity scores. Results While the prevalence of regular consumers of taxed beverages fell by 39% in Barcelona as compared to Madrid, the prevalence of consumers of untaxed beverages remained stable. The main reason cited by more than two-thirds of those surveyed for reducing their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was the increase in price, followed by a heightened awareness of their health effects. Conclusions The introduction of the Catalonian excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was followed by a reduction in the prevalence of regular consumers of taxed beverages.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7908-5TaxesSugar-sweetened beveragesSpainCatalonia
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Miguel Ángel Royo-Bordonada
Carlos Fernández-Escobar
Lorena Simón
Belen Sanz-Barbero
Javier Padilla
spellingShingle Miguel Ángel Royo-Bordonada
Carlos Fernández-Escobar
Lorena Simón
Belen Sanz-Barbero
Javier Padilla
Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study
BMC Public Health
Taxes
Sugar-sweetened beverages
Spain
Catalonia
author_facet Miguel Ángel Royo-Bordonada
Carlos Fernández-Escobar
Lorena Simón
Belen Sanz-Barbero
Javier Padilla
author_sort Miguel Ángel Royo-Bordonada
title Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study
title_short Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study
title_full Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study
title_fullStr Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study
title_full_unstemmed Impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of Catalonia, Spain: a difference in differences study
title_sort impact of an excise tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in young people living in poorer neighbourhoods of catalonia, spain: a difference in differences study
publisher BMC
series BMC Public Health
issn 1471-2458
publishDate 2019-11-01
description Abstract Background Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is contributing to the obesity epidemic. On 28 March 2017, Catalonia enacted a law levying an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages for public health reasons. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of the tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Catalonia (Spain). Methods Before-and-after study to assess changes in the prevalence of consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among 1929 persons aged 12 to 40 years residing in low-income neighbourhoods of Barcelona (intervention) and Madrid (control). Beverage consumption frequency was ascertained via a validated questionnaire administered during the month prior to the tax’s introduction (May 2017) and again at 1 year after it had come into force. The effect of the tax was obtained using Poisson regression models with robust variance weighted using propensity scores. Results While the prevalence of regular consumers of taxed beverages fell by 39% in Barcelona as compared to Madrid, the prevalence of consumers of untaxed beverages remained stable. The main reason cited by more than two-thirds of those surveyed for reducing their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was the increase in price, followed by a heightened awareness of their health effects. Conclusions The introduction of the Catalonian excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was followed by a reduction in the prevalence of regular consumers of taxed beverages.
topic Taxes
Sugar-sweetened beverages
Spain
Catalonia
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7908-5
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