Sugar-sweetened beverage purchases in urban Peru before the implementation of taxation and warning label policies: a baseline study.

BACKGROUND: Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is associated with obesity and chronic disease. In 2018, Peru increased the tax on high-sugar beverages (≥6 g of sugar per 100 mL) from 17 to 25%, yet little is known about pre-existing beverage trends or demographic characteristics associated with purchases in the country. The aim of this study was to explore beverage purchasing trends from 2016 to 2017 and examine variation in purchase volume by sociodemographic characteristics among urban households in Peru. METHODS: This study used monthly household purchase data from a panel of 5145 households from January 2016-December 2017 from Kantar WorldPanel Peru. Beverage purchases were categorized by type and tax status under the 2018 regulation (untaxed, lower-sugar taxed, high-sugar taxed). To assess beverage purchasing trends, per-capita volume purchases were regressed on a linear time trend, with month dummies for seasonality and clustered standard errors. Mean volume purchases by beverage tax status (total liters purchased per month), overall and by key demographic characteristics (education, socioeconomic status, and geographic region), were calculated. Mean volume by beverage type was assessed to identify the largest contributors to total beverage volume. RESULTS: The trends analysis showed a decline in total beverage volume of - 52 mL/capita/month (95% CI: - 72, - 32) during the 24-month study period. Over 99% of households purchased untaxed beverages in a month, while > 92% purchased high-sugar taxed beverages. Less than half of all households purchased low-sugar taxed beverages in a month and purchase volume was low (0.3 L/capita/month). Untaxed beverage purchases averaged 9.4 L/capita/month, while households purchased 2.8 L/capita/month of high-sugar taxed beverages in 2017. Across tax categories, volume purchases were largest in the high education and high socioeconomic (SES) groups, with substantial variation by geographic region. The highest volume taxed beverage was soda (2.3 L/capita/month), while the highest volume untaxed beverages were milk and bottled water (1.9 and 1.7 L/capita/month, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Nearly all households purchased high-sugar taxed beverages, although volume purchases of taxed and untaxed beverages declined slightly from 2016 to 2017. Households with high SES and high education purchased the highest volume of taxed beverages, highlighting the need to consider possible differential impacts of the tax policy change by sub-population groups.

[Social programs and reducing obesity in Peru: reflections from the research]. / Programas sociales y reducción de la obesidad en el Perú: reflexiones desde la investigación.

In recent decades, overweight or obesity have increased dramatically in middle- and low-income countries; a situation which consolidates chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) as one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. Currently, half the people in Peru over the age of 15 years are overweight, and one fifth suffer from obesity. The situation is worsening and increasingly affects people in poverty, who frequently benefit from food supplement programs designed to combat food insecurity and malnutrition. There is an urgent worldwide need to find policies and programs that help fight the problem of obesity at the population level, a task that is still pending. In this article, we review the current epidemic of overweight and obesity in Peru and the world and its most significant consequences and causes, with an emphasis on access to and availability of foods. We describe the largest food supplement programs and synthesize the research on interventions in order to reflect on how their findings might help social programs work as a platform to reduce obesity and prevent NCD in Peru.

Programas sociales y reducción de la obesidad en el Perú: reflexiones desde la investigación / Social programs and reducing obesity in Peru: reflections from the research

RESUMEN En las últimas décadas, el sobrepeso y la obesidad han aumentado de forma acelerada en los países de ingresos medios y bajos, una situación que consolida a las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles (ENT) como una de las más importantes causas de mortalidad y discapacidad a nivel global. Actualmente, uno de cada dos peruanos mayores de 15 años tiene exceso de peso y uno de cada cinco sufre de obesidad, una situación que está en continuo crecimiento y afecta cada vez más intensamente a los que viven en condiciones de pobreza, quienes, con frecuencia, son beneficiarios de programas de complementación alimentaria, dirigidos a enfrentar la inseguridad alimentaria y la desnutrición. Existe globalmente una urgente necesidad de encontrar políticas y programas que permitan enfrentar el problema de la obesidad a nivel poblacional, una tarea todavía pendiente. En este artículo revisamos la situación actual de la epidemia de sobrepeso y obesidad en el Perú y el mundo, sus consecuencias y determinantes más importantes, con énfasis en el acceso y disponibilidad de alimentos; describimos los programas de complementación alimentaria más importantes y sintetizamos información de algunas investigaciones e intervenciones para reflexionar sobre cómo sus hallazgos podrían servir para que los programas sociales sean una como plataforma para reducir la obesidad y prevenir las ENT en el Perú.

ABSTRACT In recent decades, overweight or obesity have increased dramatically in middle- and low-income countries; a situation which consolidates chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) as one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. Currently, half the people in Peru over the age of 15 years are overweight, and one fifth suffer from obesity. The situation is worsening and increasingly affects people in poverty, who frequently benefit from food supplement programs designed to combat food insecurity and malnutrition. There is an urgent worldwide need to find policies and programs that help fight the problem of obesity at the population level, a task that is still pending. In this article, we review the current epidemic of overweight and obesity in Peru and the world and its most significant consequences and causes, with an emphasis on access to and availability of foods. We describe the largest food supplement programs and synthesize the research on interventions in order to reflect on how their findings might help social programs work as a platform to reduce obesity and prevent NCD in Peru.