New research, published by the Children's Food Campaign in association with University of Liverpool academic Brendan Collins and Food Active, shows that if the government introduced a 20 pence per litre sugary drinks duty in England, then the impact in the East of England over twenty years would be to:
- reduce the cases of diabetes by over 5,000
- prevent almost 1,000 cases of bowel cancer
- reduce strokes and cases of coronary heart disease by over 3,500
- save the NHS over £1.55 million a year in healthcare costs for treating those diseases.
- improve the quality of life for tens of thousands of residents.
The impact on calorie reduction would be greatest in places such as Luton, Thurrock, Watford, Peterborough and Cambridge, which have the highest relative proportion of younger demographics who typically consume the most sugary drinks. The local authorities in the East of England set to gain the most total savings and health benefits from a sugary drinks duty are (in order): Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Basildon, Thurrock and Colchester – due partly to their larger population sizes.
CitizensUK, the alliance of local community organising groups, said:
“Across our member schools we are finding that increasing numbers of children are showing early signs of heart disease, diabetes and poor mental health. We are calling for a Children’s Health Fund to enable a step-change in early intervention. Since there is no spare money in the NHS, we are calling for a duty on sugary drinks, which will itself reduce diabetes and obesity.”
Malcolm Clark, co-ordinator of the Children’s Food Campaign, said:
“Public health directors in North West England and in Cardiff, as well as the London Health Commission, have publicly backed a sugary drinks duty. We hope this new research encourages public health directors in the East of England to join their counterparts in calling for the government to introduce a nationwide duty.”
Table 1: impact of a sugary drinks duty in the East of England
This table is in order of greatest health cost savings over a 20 year period
| Area Name | Reduction in calories per day-mid | Estimated change in diabetes cases over 20 years | Estimated change in Stroke/CHD cases over 20 years | Estimated change in Cancer cases over 20 years | Estimated QALYs gained over 20 years | Total health cost savings over 20 years |
| Central Bedfordshire UA | 6.61 | -240 | -164 | -43 | 4045 | £1,464,565.36 |
| Luton UA | 6.88 | -194 | -132 | -35 | 3266 | £1,182,464.29 |
| Basildon CD | 6.60 | -177 | -121 | -32 | 2980 | £1,078,870.32 |
| Thurrock UA | 6.78 | -167 | -114 | -30 | 2809 | £1,016,909.86 |
| Colchester CD | 6.57 | -166 | -113 | -30 | 2788 | £1,009,431.96 |
| Peterborough UA | 6.74 | -161 | -110 | -29 | 2711 | £981,454.15 |
| Southend-on-Sea UA | 6.51 | -157 | -107 | -28 | 2641 | £956,175.11 |
| Huntingdonshire CD | 6.59 | -149 | -102 | -27 | 2511 | £908,965.99 |
| Chelmsford CD | 6.54 | -148 | -101 | -27 | 2496 | £903,679.18 |
| Braintree CD | 6.54 | -142 | -97 | -25 | 2392 | £866,141.69 |
| Bedford UA | 6.65 | -142 | -97 | -25 | 2382 | £862,342.64 |
| Kings Lynn and West Norfolk CD | 6.21 | -136 | -92 | -24 | 2283 | £826,422.26 |
| Breckland CD | 6.31 | -129 | -88 | -23 | 2169 | £785,166.70 |
| Dacorum CD | 6.63 | -123 | -84 | -22 | 2071 | £749,792.89 |
| Tendring CD | 6.02 | -121 | -83 | -22 | 2041 | £738,900.48 |
| Waveney CD | 6.18 | -120 | -82 | -21 | 2012 | £728,613.85 |
| Broadland CD | 6.26 | -119 | -81 | -21 | 2000 | £724,005.92 |
| Ipswich CD | 6.65 | -118 | -81 | -21 | 1990 | £720,334.86 |
| Norwich CD | 6.54 | -117 | -80 | -21 | 1976 | £715,466.35 |
| Epping Forest CD | 6.45 | -114 | -78 | -20 | 1925 | £696,987.70 |
| East Hertfordshire CD | 6.68 | -114 | -77 | -20 | 1912 | £692,137.41 |
| South Norfolk CD | 6.33 | -111 | -75 | -20 | 1862 | £674,262.79 |
| South Cambridgeshire CD | 6.57 | -108 | -73 | -19 | 1810 | £655,217.04 |
| North Hertfordshire CD | 6.54 | -107 | -73 | -19 | 1791 | £648,635.04 |
| Suffolk Coastal CD | 6.26 | -106 | -72 | -19 | 1783 | £645,640.03 |
| Great Yarmouth CD | 6.36 | -103 | -70 | -18 | 1726 | £624,831.73 |
| St Edmundsbury CD | 6.45 | -98 | -67 | -18 | 1649 | £597,001.59 |
| Castle Point CD | 6.32 | -95 | -64 | -17 | 1591 | £575,905.18 |
| Broxbourne CD | 6.58 | -92 | -63 | -17 | 1554 | £562,804.91 |
| Fenland CD | 6.39 | -92 | -62 | -16 | 1542 | £558,432.95 |
| North Norfolk CD | 5.90 | -91 | -62 | -16 | 1535 | £555,942.28 |
| St Albans CD | 6.63 | -88 | -60 | -16 | 1488 | £538,704.40 |
| Welwyn Hatfield CD | 6.62 | -88 | -60 | -16 | 1482 | £536,668.82 |
| Mid Suffolk CD | 6.40 | -88 | -60 | -16 | 1474 | £533,737.00 |
| Hertsmere CD | 6.58 | -84 | -57 | -15 | 1418 | £513,318.24 |
| Stevenage CD | 6.71 | -82 | -56 | -15 | 1378 | £498,873.81 |
| Harlow CD | 6.65 | -82 | -56 | -15 | 1378 | £498,864.94 |
| Rochford CD | 6.42 | -81 | -55 | -14 | 1359 | £492,056.89 |
| Babergh CD | 6.33 | -79 | -54 | -14 | 1330 | £481,687.59 |
| Cambridge CD | 6.72 | -74 | -51 | -13 | 1248 | £451,738.94 |
| East Cambridgeshire CD | 6.49 | -73 | -50 | -13 | 1222 | £442,576.38 |
| Three Rivers CD | 6.59 | -63 | -43 | -11 | 1057 | £382,608.02 |
| Maldon CD | 6.38 | -61 | -42 | -11 | 1033 | £374,147.63 |
| Brentwood CD | 6.47 | -60 | -41 | -11 | 1014 | £367,219.54 |
| Forest Heath CD | 6.51 | -57 | -39 | -10 | 964 | £349,142.89 |
| Watford CD | 6.76 | -56 | -38 | -10 | 934 | £338,086.35 |
| Uttlesford CD | 6.60 | -49 | -33 | -9 | 826 | £299,039.78 |
| Totals | 6.50 | -5222 | -3559 | -934 | 87846 | £31,805,973.73 |
Table 1: impact of a sugary drinks duty in the East of England
This table is in order of greatest average calorie reduction per resident aged 4 years or older
| Region | Area Name | Reduction in calories per day-mid | Estimated change in diabetes cases (over 20 years) | Estimated change in Stroke/CHD cases (over 20 years) | Estimated change in Cancer cases (over 20 years) | Estimated QALYs gained (over 20 years) | Total health cost savings (over 20 years) (£) |
| England total | England | 6.51 | -48,638 | -33,150 | -8,695 | 818,151 | 296,222,417 |
| South East | Slough UA | 6.98 | -115 | -79 | -21 | 1,942 | 703,040 |
| North West | Manchester MCD | 6.89 | -404 | -275 | -72 | 6,788 | 2,457,657 |
| East of England | Luton UA | 6.88 | -194 | -132 | -35 | 3,266 | 1,182,464 |
Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) is a measure of the state of health of a person in which the benefits, in terms of length of life, are adjusted to reflect the quality of life. One QALY is equal to 1 year of life in perfect health. It is often measured in terms of the person's ability to perform the activities of daily life, free from pain and mental disturbance.
The Children's Food Campaign is a campaign of Sustain the alliance for better food and farming.
Full data sources and methodology can be viewed at www.childrenshealthfund.org.uk
Sugary Drinks Duty: Support the campaign for a sugary drinks duty, to pay for programmes to improve childrens health and protect the environment they grow up in.
