Birmingham the top authority nationwide where the total savings and health benefits of a sugary drinks duty would be highest

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 West Midlands over twenty years would be to:

• Reduce the cases of diabetes by just under 50,000
• Prevent almost 9000 cases of cancer
• Reduce strokes and cases of coronary heart disease by over 33,000
• Save the NHS at least £15million 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 Birmingham and Teford and Wrekin, which have the highest relative proportion of younger demographics who typically consume the most sugary drinks. The local authorities in West Midlands set to gain the most total savings and health benefits from a sugary drinks duty are (in order): Birmingham, Dudley and Sandwell – due partly to their larger population sizes.

Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation:

“The increase in consumption of sugary drinks is one of the key reasons for dental decay, particularly in children. There has been a 300 per cent increase in children attending A&E in the region, so there is a clear need for something to be done.

“By proposing the introduction of a duty on sugary drinks, there are numerous benefits. There will be an inevitable reduction in consumption and benefits for general health – most notably obesity – and dental health, and the financial aspect will appeal to many decision-makers in the health industry.

“Cutting down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks is one of the British Dental Health Foundation's key messages, and any measure which helps reduce how often our teeth are exposed to sugary foods and drinks is one that we wholeheartedly welcome.”

Malcolm Clark, co-ordinator of the Children’s Food Campaign:

“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 North East England to join their counterparts in calling for the government to introduce a nationwide duty.”

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Table 1: impact of a sugary drinks duty in the West Midlands

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 ears	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 (£)
Birmingham MCD	6.84	-1049	-715	-188	17651	£6,390,832
Dudley MCD	6.49	-330	-225	-59	5546	£2,008,088
Sandwell MCD	6.69	-325	-222	-58	5468	£1,979,593
Coventry MCD	6.68	-314	-214	-56	5287	£1,914,309
Shropshire UA	6.40	-282	-192	-50	4748	£1,719,023
Walsall MCD	6.60	-274	-187	-49	4610	£1,669,268
Stoke-on-Trent UA	6.61	-263	-179	-47	4418	£1,599,633
Wolverhampton MCD	6.62	-257	-175	-46	4322	£1,564,991
Solihull MCD	6.49	-197	-134	-35	3315	£1,200,321
Herefordshire, County of UA	6.33	-175	-119	-31	2947	£1,066,914
Telford and Wrekin UA	6.72	-169	-115	-30	2846	£1,030,384
Nuneaton and Bedworth CD	6.56	-141	-96	-25	2379	£861,224
Newcastle-under-Lyme CD	6.47	-128	-87	-23	2148	£777,733
Stafford CD	6.42	-119	-81	-21	2007	£726,675
Warwick CD	6.50	-115	-79	-21	1941	£702,942
Wychavon CD	6.31	-113	-77	-20	1897	£686,981
South Staffordshire CD	6.37	-112	-76	-20	1876	£679,398
East Staffordshire CD	6.58	-109	-74	-20	1837	£665,005
Cannock Chase CD	6.60	-108	-74	-19	1824	£660,552
Wyre Forest CD	6.30	-106	-72	-19	1778	£643,917
Stratford-on-Avon CD	6.25	-105	-72	-19	1769	£640,513
Staffordshire Moorlands CD	6.32	-102	-70	-18	1722	£623,448
Lichfield CD	6.37	-96	-66	-17	1619	£586,266
Rugby CD	6.57	-92	-62	-16	1540	£557,643
Tamworth CD	6.66	-91	-62	-16	1538	£556,747
Redditch CD	6.67	-90	-62	-16	1520	£550,323
Worcester CD	6.61	-90	-61	-16	1510	£546,755
Bromsgrove CD	6.42	-89	-61	-16	1503	£544,030
North Warwickshire CD	6.47	-72	-49	-13	1219	£441,488
Malvern Hills CD	6.23	-65	-45	-12	1099	£397,930
Totals	6.50	-5581	-3804	-998	93887	£33,992,927

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Table 2: Top 10 local authorities in England with greatest cost savings

This table is in order of greatest health cost savings over a 20 year period

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
West Midlands	Birmingham MCD	6.84	-1,049	-715	-188	17,651	6,390,832
Yorkshire and The Humber	Leeds MCD	6.62	-801	-546	-143	13,475	4,878,838
North East	Durham UA	6.45	-570	-388	-102	9,582	3,469,422
South West	Cornwall UA	6.28	-511	-348	-91	8,593	3,111,309
Yorkshire and The Humber	Sheffield MCD	6.59	-506	-345	-90	8,507	3,080,144
Yorkshire and The Humber	Bradford MCD	6.82	-500	-341	-89	8,411	3,045,486
South West	Wiltshire UA	6.52	-443	-302	-79	7,453	2,698,464
Yorkshire and The Humber	Kirklees MCD	6.66	-425	-290	-76	7,150	2,588,923
North West	Liverpool MCD	6.65	-405	-276	-72	6,820	2,469,206
North West	Manchester MCD	6.89	-404	-275	-72	6,788	2,457,657

 

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