Childhood obesity is a recognised public health problem and around 25% of Australian children are overweight or obese. A major contributor is the obesogenic environment which encourages over consumption of energy dense nutrient poor food.
Taxation is commonly proposed as a mechanism to reduce consumption of poor food choices and hence reduce rates of obesity and overweight in the community.
Methods:
An economic model will be developed to assess the lifetime benefits and costs to a cohort of Australian children by reducing energy dense nutrient poor food consumption through taxation mechanisms. The model inputs will be derived from a series of smaller studies.
Food options for taxation will be derived from literature and expert opinion, the acceptability and impact of price changes will be explored through a Citizen’s Jury and a discrete choice experiment and price elasticities will be derived from the discrete choice experiment and consumption data.DiscussionThe health care costs of managing rising levels of obesity are a challenge for all governments. This study will provide a unique contribution to the international knowledge base by engaging a variety of robust research techniques, with a multidisciplinary focus and be responsive to consumers from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
Author: Tracy A ComansJenny A WhittyAndrew P HillsElizabeth KendallErika TurkstraLouisa G GordonJosh M ByrnesPaul A Scuffham
Credits/Source: BMC Public Health 2013, 13:1182
Published on: 2013-12-14
Tweet
News Provider: EUPB – European Press Bureau
Social Bookmarking
RETWEET This! | Digg this! | Post to del.icio.us | Post to Furl | Add to Netscape | Add to Yahoo! | Rojo
There are no comments available. Be the first to write a comment.