Abstract
IntroductionThe objective of this study was to quantify changes in the affordability of sugar-sweetened beverages, a product implicated as a contributor to rising rates of obesity worldwide, as a function of product price and personal income.MethodsWe used international survey data in a retrospective analysis of 40 high-income and 42 low-income and middle-income countries from 1990 to 2016. Prices of sugar-sweetened beverages were from the Economist Intelligence Unit’s World Cost of Living Survey. Income and inflation data were from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database. The measure of affordability was the average annual percentage change in the relative-income price of sugar-sweetened beverages, which is the annual rate of change in the proportion of per capita gross domestic product needed to purchase 100 L of Coca-Cola in each country in each year of the study.ResultsIn 79 of 82 countries, the proportion of income needed to purchase sugar-sweetened beverages declined on average (using annual measures) during the study period. This pattern, described as an increase in the affordability of sugar-sweetened beverages, indicated that sugar-sweetened beverages became more affordable more rapidly in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries, a fact largely attributable to the higher rate of income growth in those countries than to a decline in the real price of sugar-sweetened beverages.ConclusionWithout deliberate policy action to raise prices, sugar-sweetened beverages are likely to become more affordable and more widely consumed around the world.
Highlights
The objective of this study was to quantify changes in the affordability of sugar-sweetened beverages, a product implicated as a contributor to rising rates of obesity worldwide, as a function of product price and personal income
The method uses a broad measure of income, which is appropriate for research on low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) because it is a comprehensive measure of economic activity, for example, by including crucial components of the economy such as the value of public goods and services as well as transfer payments
The mean price of 1 L of Coca-Cola in 2016 was $0.73 ($0.26) among all countries surveyed (Table 1); the price varied considerably around the world, ranging from $0.38 per liter in Ukraine to $2.74 per liter in Papua New Guinea (Figure 1). Both the lowest and highest prices were in LMICs
Summary
The objective of this study was to quantify changes in the affordability of sugar-sweetened beverages, a product implicated as a contributor to rising rates of obesity worldwide, as a function of product price and personal income. Obesity and overweight can be modifiable risk factors, and decreases in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages tend to reduce their prevalence and the prevalence of disease [7,8]. From 2000 to 2013, the global prevalence of overweight and obesity increased by one-quarter among adults and by nearly half among children; by 2013, more than 2 billion people were overweight, and of these, more than 674 million were obese [9]. In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3.4 million deaths worldwide [10], a number that is likely to increase in line with rising overweight and obesity rates. The annual health care costs attributable to obesity and overweight are more than $600 billion [11]
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