Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Kirklees amongst top 10 authorities nationwide where cost savings and diabetes prevention from 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 Yorkshire and Humber over twenty years would be to:

• reduce the cases of diabetes by nearly 5,500
• prevent over 900 cases of bowel cancer
• reduce strokes and cases of coronary heart disease by over 3,500
• save the NHS over £1.6 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 Bradford and Kingston upon Hull, which have the highest relative proportion of younger demographics who typically consume the most sugary drinks. The local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber set to gain the most total savings and health benefits from a sugary drinks duty are (in order): Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Kirklees  – due partly to their larger population sizes.

CitizensUK, the alliance of local community organising groups, including groups in Leeds, 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 Yorkshire and Humber to join their counterparts in calling for the government to introduce a nationwide duty.”

Table 1: impact of a sugary drinks duty in Yorkshire and Humber

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

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

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