Taxing highly processed foods: What could be the impacts on obesity and underweight in sub-Saharan Africa?

Boysen, Ole; Boysen-Urban, Kirsten; Bradford, Harvey; Balié, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.03.006

Cited by 27 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…The increased consumption of highly processed foods has been attributed to varied factors including their easy accessibility even in small/local shops, high visibility through advertisement and campaigns, convenience, palatability, lower prices relative to fresh or minimally processed foods, and long shelf-life [ 19 , 42 , 45 ]. High income or wealth also has been identified as a trigger of increased intake of highly processed foods [ 42 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary Patterns as Characterized by Food Processing Levels and Their Association with the Health Outcomes of Rural Women in East Africa

2021

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Overweight and obesity are rapidly rising in Sub-Saharan Africa including in rural areas. However, most studies focus on urban centers, and have attributed this epidemic to the consumption of processed foods without their clear characterization. This study investigated food intake patterns defined by food processing levels and their association with overweight/obesity in rural areas. Four 24-h dietary recalls, anthropometric measurements, and socio-demographic characteristics were collected from 1152 women in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The PCA method was used to extract patterns characterized by food processing levels. The association between patterns and overweight/obesity was ascertained with regression models. The overweight/obesity rate was 47%, 42%, 26%, and 38% in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and East Africa (as pooled data), respectively. Several patterns were identified, yet a “plant-based pattern” largely characterized by unprocessed and minimally processed foods and a “purchase pattern” mainly distinguished by highly processed foods were dominant. The “plant-based pattern” was inversely or not associated with overweight/obesity, while the “purchase pattern” had a positive association or no association. A clear distinction on processed foods as healthy and unhealthy should be made based on their nutrient provision to avoid their mischaracterization as unhealthy. Policies to reverse consumption of unhealthy processed foods while promoting healthy ones should be pursued.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary Patterns as Characterized by Food Processing Levels and Their Association with the Health Outcomes of Rural Women in East Africa

2021

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“…While price changes affect food choice, low-income countries like Ethiopia and Nigeria have not to date prioritized policy actions to directly affect prices of specific target foods. That said, SSB taxes have recently been passed in 44 nations globally, including in India, and there is growing interest in this approach to improving diets, particularly in preventing diet-related non-communicable diseases ( Boysen et al, 2019 , Hawkes et al, 2020 ). Our results suggest that the taxation of unhealthy products such as SSBs, with parallel subsidization of nutrient-rich foods like fruits and vegetables, could be cost-effective for child health outcomes in Nigeria.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the potential cost-effectiveness of food-based programs to reduce malnutrition

Webb

Danaei

Masters

et al. 2021

Global Food Security

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Poor quality diets contribute to malnutrition globally, but evidence is weak on the cost-effectiveness of food-based interventions that shift diets. This study assessed 11 candidate interventions developed through Delphi techniques to improve diets in India, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. A Markov simulation model incorporated time, individual-level, nutrition, and policy parameters to estimate health impacts and cost-effectiveness for reducing stunting, anaemia, diarrhea, and mortality in preschool children. At an assumed 80% coverage, interventions considered would potentially save between 0·16 and 3·20 years of life per child. The average cost-effectiveness ratio ranged from US$9 to US$2000 per life year saved. This approach, linking expert knowledge, known costs, and modelling, offers potential for estimating cost-effective investments for better informed policy choice where empirical evidence is limited.

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“…Health is one of the prime concerns of consumers while purchasing and consuming convenience food products. It is generally believed that regular and excessive use of convenience food causes obesity and other health-related problems [28,29]. Health is a multidimensional construct that influences the purchase intention and consumption of convenience food [4,30,31].…”

Section: Of 17mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Sensory Appeal, Nutritional Quality, Safety, and Health Determinants on Convenience Food Choice in an Academic Environment

Imtiyaz

Soni

Yukongdi

2021

Foods

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The present research aims to investigate the extent to which sensory appeal, nutritional quality, safety, and health determinants influence purchase intention, consumption, and satisfaction of consumers towards convenience food. The non-probability purposive sampling approach was adopted for the recruitment of consumers. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 501 consumers. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were adopted to analyze the data. Factor loading, Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted, and correlations estimate of constructs revealed good internal consistency and reliability of scale items as well as convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs. The path analysis of structural model demonstrated positive relationship between sensory appeal, nutritional quality, safety attributes, healthiness, and purchase intention of convenience food. Further, the path analysis of structural model revealed that purchase intention with consumption as well as consumption with satisfaction were positively associated for convenience food. Sensory appeal was the key determinant influencing purchase intention, consumption, and satisfaction of consumers towards convenience food. The good taste, pleasant appearance, nice smell, and appealing texture within sensory appeal were the most important factors influencing purchase intention, consumption, and satisfaction of consumers towards convenience food. Further, the consumers in emerging economies such as India focus more on sensory appeal in convenience food choice.

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Taxing highly processed foods: What could be the impacts on obesity and underweight in sub-Saharan Africa?

Cited by 27 publications

References 59 publications

Dietary Patterns as Characterized by Food Processing Levels and Their Association with the Health Outcomes of Rural Women in East Africa

Dietary Patterns as Characterized by Food Processing Levels and Their Association with the Health Outcomes of Rural Women in East Africa

Modelling the potential cost-effectiveness of food-based programs to reduce malnutrition

Role of Sensory Appeal, Nutritional Quality, Safety, and Health Determinants on Convenience Food Choice in an Academic Environment

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