Article Text
Abstract
Objective To assess public support for 10 potential policy initiatives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption.
Design A 2014 historical data set, which employed a face-to-face survey in one Australian state (study 1), provided the basis for comparison with our 2017 nationally representative, cross-sectional, computer-assisted telephone interviewing population survey (study 2).
Participants Study 1: South Australians, 15+ years (n=2732); study 2: Australians, 18+ years (n=3430).
Primary outcome measures: levels of support for SSB-specific policy initiatives. For the 2017 national study (study 2), demographic characteristics, body mass index, knowledge of potential harms caused by consuming SSBs and SSB consumption were included in multivariable regression analyses.
Results In 2017, all 10 potential policy initiatives received majority support (60%–88% either ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly’ in favour). Initiatives with educative elements or focused on children received high support (>70%), with highest support observed for text warning labels on drink containers (88%) and government campaigns warning of adverse health effects (87%). Higher support was observed for SSB tax paired with using funds for obesity prevention (77%) than a stand-alone tax (60%). Support for policy initiatives was generally greater among those who believed SSB daily consumption could cause health problems in adults (4%–18% absolute difference) and/or in children (8%–26% absolute difference) and lower among SSB high consumers (7+ drinks per week; 9%–29% absolute difference). State-specific data comparison indicated increased support from 2014 to 2017 for taxation (42%vs55%; χ2=15.7, p<0.001) and graphic health warnings (52%vs68%; χ2=23.4. p<0.001).
Conclusions There is strong public support for government action, particularly regulatory and educational interventions, to reduce SSB consumption, which appears to have increased since 2014. The findings suggest that framing policies as protecting children, presenting taxation of SSBs in conjunction with other obesity prevention initiatives and education focused on the harms associated with SSB consumption will increase support.
- sugar-sweetened beverages
- policy
- sugar tax
- warning labels
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Footnotes
Contributors CLM conceptualised and led the design of the study with substantial contributions from KE, JD, MAW, SP, SJD, JC, DR, GW and JM. JD and KE coordinated the questions and conducted the analyses. CLM, KE and JD drafted the manuscript, and all authors contributed to the interpretation of data and critically revised the publication for important intellectual content. All authors approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Funding This research was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Centre (NHMRC) Project Grant GNT 1120618 and Cancer Council’s Beat Cancer Project on behalf of its donors and the State Government through the Department of Health. CM is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship and a Heart Foundation future leader fellowship, and MW is supported by a NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship.
Competing interests CLM, KE, JD, MAW, JC, DR, SJD and GW declared no competing interests. SP declares expert membership of Australian Government Health Star Ratings Committees, and JC declares membership of the Social Sciences and Economy Advisory Group of Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
Ethics approval The study was approved by the University of Adelaide’s Human Research Ethics Committee.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement No additional data are available.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
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