SynthesisPublic health nutrition2021
Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages as a policy to reduce overweight and obesity in countries of different income classifications: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of sugar taxation policies in Asia and Africa: a systematic review.Frontiers in oral health · 2025Pooled it
- The relationship between the price and demand of alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and gambling: an umbrella review of systematic reviews.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation on sugars intake and dental caries: an umbrella review of a global perspective.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- The case for primary prevention of obesity in the era of GLP-1 therapies.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Review
- Understanding sugar-sweetened beverage tax implementation globally: a 34-year, population-based observational study in 183 countries.The Lancet. Global health · 2026Observational
- Understanding Research Approaches to Assess Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation Policy Implementation and Response in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Results From a Scoping Review.Nutrition reviews · 2026Article
- Shrinking appetites: Will GLP-1 adoption in high-income countries accelerate Big Food's push into low- and middle-income countries?Globalization and health · 2026Article
- Securing Somalia's health: leveraging sin tax revenues to drive universal health coverage and financial protection for lifesaving care in Somalia's health system-scoping review.Health economics review · 2026Review
- Community-Based Preventive Health Interventions and Their Impact on Population Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Article
- Metabolic disorders in young people around the world.Diabetologia · 2025Review
- Free, healthy school lunches in New Zealand: A Value for Investment analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- From Womb to Tomb: A Life-Course Perspective on the Origins of Non-communicable Diseases.Cureus · 2025Review
- Investigating inequality of childhood obesity in Bangladesh: a decomposition analysis.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- The Impact of Federal and State Laws on Cardiovascular Risk.Current cardiology reports · 2025Review
- Managing Early Childhood Caries in Asia-Pacific Region.International dental journal · 2025Review
- Bridging the gap in obesity research: A consensus statement from the European Society for Clinical Investigation.European journal of clinical investigation · 2025Review
- Addressing childhood obesity in Iran: exploring a multifaceted conceptual model in a low/middle income country through stakeholder lens.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Evidence on the effectiveness and equity of population-based policies to reduce the burden of type 2 diabetes: a narrative review.Diabetologia · 2025Review
- Tackling the complexity of obesity in the US through adaptation of public health strategies.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the potential impact of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes on overweight and obesity prevalence in countries of different income classifications.
designSystematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (PROSPERO number CRD42020161612). Five databases (Cochrane Library, Embase, LILACS (via Virtual Health Library) and MEDLINE (via PubMed), and Web of Science were searched, from January 2009 to December 2019. Articles that reported changes in purchases, sales, intake, body weight, BMI, overweight and/or obesity prevalence due to a tax on or price change in SSB were included.
settingStudies conducted in countries of different income classifications.
participantsThe search yielded 8349 articles of which 21 met inclusion criteria.
resultsAmong the sixteen studies selected, only two did not show that consumption, sales and purchase decreased as the price of SSB increased. In eight of the thirteen studies selected, a positive effect of an SSB tax on decreasing overweight and obesity prevalence was expected. It is estimated that a 20 % taxation on SSB would result in a greater decrease in the prevalence of overweight and obesity compared to a 10 % rate. Studies with no significant effect of taxing on sales, purchases, consumption and prevalence of obesity were from high-income countries, while significant effects of taxing on reducing purchase, consumption and/or obesity prevalence were found in studies from upper-middle- and middle-income countries.
conclusionA high SSB tax might be an effective fiscal policy to decrease purchase and consumption of SSB and reduce overweight/obesity prevalence, especially if the tax were specific for beverage volume.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.