142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

303711
Improving Health Through Law: Exploring the Impact of Price Disincentives on Sugary Drink Consumption and the Health of Latino Youth

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Shannon Baldwin , The Institute for Health Promotion Research, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
Cliff Despres, B.J. , Institute for Health Promotion Research, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
Rebecca Adeigbe, M.S. , Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, Institute for Health Promotion Research, San Antonio, TX
Rosalie Aguilar , The Institute for Health Promotion Research, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
Chelsea Cox , The Institute for Health Promotion Research, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX
Kipling Gallion, MA , Dept of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH , Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, Institute for Health Promotion Research, San Antonio, TX
Evidence suggests that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs or “sugary drinks”) has increased alarmingly over the past decades, and Latino youths consume more sugary drinks, and at younger ages, than the overall average.

Salud America!—a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded national network of researchers, decision-makers, and other stakeholders vested in reducing childhood obesity—conducted research and developed an online platform to identify strategies and opportunities to reduce SSB consumption among Latinos.

The network published a comprehensive research review to examine sugary drink consumption among Latinos, and how pricing strategies were addressing—or could address—the issue. The results indicated that SSB taxes, exclusion of SSBs from food assistance programs, and subsidization of healthier beverages have been proposed to reduce SSB consumption. In addition, research indicates that a 20 percent SSB tax would reduce SSB consumption by 24 percent, with the net impact on weight less clear, but likely beneficial to Latinos youth more than other racial/ethnic groups.

These policies and strategies elicit varied responses, but present an opportunity for law to advance public health.

For example, based on its research results, Salud America! developed Growing Healthy Change, an online, GIS-based  platform that can help identify Latino communities that are ready to create or already creating local, state, and national changes to reduce sugary drink consumption. The platform is educating individuals and groups about how to develop and implement pricing and other strategies to reduce sugary drink consumption among Latino children, such as removing sugary drinks from schools, city facilities, and children’s hospitals.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss research that indicates that pricing disincentives, such as a tax on sugary drinks, are opportunities for policy/law change to improve public health, specifically the health of Latino youth. Explain how Salud America! is working to increase national awareness of issues related to sugary drinks and the role of a unique platform to promote community changes for pricing strategies to reduce sugary drink consumption and improve child health among Latinos.

Keyword(s): Latinos, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a research area specialist for the past two years, I have primarily focused on analyzing research on price incentives and disincentives that promote the purchase of healthier beverage options, especially as it relates to the Latino community. I have an interest in the intersection of public health and practical policy-making that weaves healthy living into the fabric of all communities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.