Sugary drinks tax to benefit children most, study suggests

According to a study published in the Lancet Public Health Journal, the health of children is set benefit most from the sugar tax on soft drinks in the UK.

The tax, which is set to come in to force on April 2018, will be applied based on the sugar content of drinks.

The research forecasted that cuts to sugar content in response to the tax will mean reduced levels of tooth decay, obesity and type 2 diabetes for under 18s. It modelled different ways that the soft drinks industry could respond to the tax and estimated the likely impact on the health of the UK population.

The study predicted that reducing sugar content in the sweetest drinks by a third and mid-sugar drinks by 15 per cent could result in more than 140,000 fewer children and adults with obesity, out of a UK total of more than 15 million.

It claimed the move could also lead to 269,000 fewer cases of decaying teeth and 19,000 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes every year.

Dr Adam Briggs, lead author of the study and from the University of Oxford, commented: "We must therefore be vigilant to ensure the food industry acts to remove sugar from soft drinks, and that where the tax is passed on to consumers, it increases the price of targeted products only - drinks with high levels of sugar."

However, Gavin Partington, director general of The British Soft Drinks Association, has claimed there was no evidence that a tax on soft drinks would have an impact on levels of obesity.

Partington argued: ”The problem with this modelling is that it is based on the flawed concept that obesity can simply be attributed to calorie or sugar intake per se and consumption of one product in particular, rather than overall lifestyle and diet.

"This error is plain to see given that sugar intake from soft drinks has been declining for several years now, down 17 per cent since 2012."