Johannesburg - Just one 330ml can of carbonated soft drink in South Africa contains an average 40g of sugar, while the same size of sweetened fruit juice has about 45g of sugar.
Drinking a single sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) daily increases the likelihood of an adult being overweight by 27 percent, and 55 percent for children.
These figures are among the findings by six Wits University researchers and presented in a paper titled: “Cost of inaction on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption: implications for obesity in South Africa”.
The researchers constructed a mathematical simulation model to estimate the effect of an annual increase in SSB consumption on the prevalence of obesity based on the 2.4 percent projected industry growth rate by Euromonitor International for 2013-2017.
“As part of the nutrition transition in South Africa, it is increasingly difficult to make healthy choices, as energy-dense foods have become more affordable and widely available. This has seen the increase in availability of and access to SSB in lower-income groups and the commensurate growth of this segment of consumers,” the paper states, in part.
In South Africa, 11 percent of the adult male population is obese, while 39 percent of women are obese.
Those living within a lower socio-economic standard added up to nearly 7 million adults, earning less than R3 500 a month.
“Access to unhealthy but affordable foods and beverages in this demographic group has increased over the past few years due to the expansion of supermarkets into informal urban settlements and rural areas.
“This has resulted in a simultaneous double burden of malnutrition characterised by both over-nutrition (overweight, obesity) and under-nutrition (underweight, wasting, stunting).”
According to the paper, products are often placed strategically in formal and informal convenience stores (spaza shops) to ensure the most profitable ones are at eye level and easily accessible.
Researchers noted in the paper that “demands to implement fiscal measures to reduce SSB consumption are growing in several other countries, including India, Ireland, the UK and Australia. In October 2013, Mexico passed a tax on SSB and junk food, followed by Chile in January 2015, and Hungary and France also have newly introduced SSB taxes”.
Berkeley, California, has recently become the first city in the US to pass an SSB tax.
Since the implementation of the SSB tax in Mexico in January 2014, SSB sales in the first quarter of 2014 compared with those in the first quarter of 2013 dropped by 10 percent, while bottled water sales increased by 13 percent.
It is estimated that by 2017, there will be a 16 percent increase in the number of obese adults in South Africa due to both population growth and the SSB industry growth, putting the total at 9.2 million.
Over a period of five years, there will be an additional 1.29 million obese adults in South Africa, 280 000 due to increased SSB consumption.
“In other words, there will be 35 000 additional obese women and 21 000 additional obese men year-on-year due to increased SSB consumption alone,” the paper says.
A South African modelling study estimated that a 20 percent SSB tax would reduce obesity by 3.8 percent in men and 2.4 percent in women. This would result in a reduction of the number of obese adults by more than 220 000.
“In order to meet the South African target of reducing the number of people who are obese and/or overweight by 10 percent by 2020, the country cannot afford to delay implementing effective population-wide interventions,” the paper warns. “In the face of plans to increase growth of SSB, the country will soon face even greater challenges in overcoming obesity and related non-communicable diseases.”
The Star