Attitudes of Chinese residents toward sugar-sweetened beverage tax and their willingness to pay: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with increased risks of obesity and chronic diseases. To effectively control SSB consumption, several countries including Mexico, France, and the United Kingdom have implemented SSB taxes. However, research on SSB taxes in China is limited. Objective: To assess the attitudes of Chinese residents toward the SSB tax and their willingness to pay the tax. Methods: Data were collected through a questionnaire survey among 881 respondents. The generalized ordered logit regression model and marginal effect analysis were used to analyze Chinese participants' attitudes toward SSB tax and their willingness to pay it. Results: The average monthly expenditure on SSBs was 44.8 ± 45.3 Yuan (RMB) (6.95 ± 7.02$), and 54.6% of residents supported the SSB tax; they were willing to pay, on average, 1.19 times the original price after additional tax. Age, physical exercise, self-rated health status, weight control plan, awareness of SSBs, children's consumption of SSBs, and proximity to the nearest SSB outlet significantly influenced attitudes toward tax. Notably, SSB awareness had the greatest effect on tax attitudes, with a 17% increase in the probability of supporting SSB tax for every one-level increase in SSB awareness among residents. Conclusion: Residents in China have attained a certain level of awareness of, support for, and willingness to pay SSB tax. However, promoting knowledge about the health effects of SSBs and conducting further research to evaluate the effect of SSB tax on obesity prevention in China is still essential.

Evidence based systematic review on the association between food advertising with childhood obesity / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To evaluate the impact of food advertising on childhood obesity by reviewing relevant literatures, and to provide evidence support for childhood obesity prevention and control strategies in China.@*Methods@#A systematic review method was used to search relevant literatures published to November 30，2020 from 8 databases including CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, PubMed, Medline, SpringerLink, Web of Science, Science Direct. The high quality systematic reviews published since 2016 were included directly, and those published before 2016 were rereviewed after combined with other literatures.@*Results@#A total of 13 articles were included for evaluation, including systematic reviews, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials and cross sectional studies. Children s exposure to food advertisements could increase energy intake. Television food advertising could influence children s food choices and increase the consumption of unhealthy foods such as sweets and sugary drinks. Children s exposure to unhealthy food advertisements could increase the risk of obesity.@*Conclusion@#Regulating the food advertisement can help reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

Evidence based systematic review on the association between sugar sweetened beverages tax and childhood obesity / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To evaluate the impact of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) tax on childhood obesity by literatures reveiew, and to provide evidence support for childhood obesity prevention and control strategies in China.@*Methods@#A systematic review method was used to search relevant literatures published to November 30，2020 from 8 databases including CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, PubMed, Medline, SpringerLink, Web of Science, and Science Direct. The high quality system reviews published since 2016 were included directly, and those published before 2016 were rereviewed before combined with other literatures.@*Results@#Twelve studies including 5 systematic reviews (or Meta analysis), 1 cohort study and 6 cross sectional studies were included. Comprehensive analysis showed that the prevention effect on childhood obesity was small or even ineffective if the tax on SSBs lower than 5%, a certain protective effect on childhood obesity could be shown if the tax on SSBs increased to 20%. From the perspective of cost benefit analysis, the implementation of SSBs tax showed certain net benefits.@*Conclusion@#SSBs tax can help reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

Evidence based systematic review on the association between social built environment and childhood obesity / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To evaluate the impact of community built environment and the distribution of fast food restaurants on childhood obesity, and to provide evidence support for childhood obesity prevention and control strategies in China.@*Methods@#A systematic review method was used to search relevant literatures published to November 30，2020 from 8 databases including CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, PubMed, SpringerLink, Web of Science, Science Direct. The high quality system reviews published since 2016 were included directly, and those published before 2016 were reviewed before combined with other literatures.@*Results@#A total of 20 articles were included for evaluation, including systematic reviews, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials and cross sectional studies. High walkability near the living area could increase children s physical activity levels and reduce the risk of obesity. The fast food sales environment increased the risk of obesity; while large supermarkets or health food sales environment could reduce the risk of obesity.@*Conclusion@#Improving walking suitability in residential areas and reducing the density of unhealthy fast food sales could help decrease the risk of childhood obesity.

Changes in children’s fruit and vegetable consumption and associated factors during COVID-2019 control period / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand fruit and vegetable consumption of children and associated factors during COVID-2019 control period, and to provide basis for growth and development of children.@*Methods@#In February 2020, 334 parents of children aged 2 to 15 years old from 22 provinces, cities and autonomous regions, including Hubei, Beijing, Shandong, Gansu were surveyed through the "Questionnaire Star" network questionnaire for the students’ fruit and vegatable consumption during the period of COVID-19, and Logistic regression analysis was conducted with multivariate analysis.@*Results@#Among the children, 26.4% of their vegetable consumption and 45.2% of their fruit consumption had changed. The multivariate analysis showed that inconvenient purchase (OR=6.52) were related to the decrease of children’s vegetable consumption. The 2-5 age group(OR=0.28), whether parents actively gained relevant knowledge of diet (OR=0.33) and mild epidemic risk (OR=4.35) were related to the increase of children’s vegetable consumption(P<0.05). Average monthly income of family(OR=6.27-8.39), inconvenient purchase(OR=2.93), and epidemic risk (OR=0.21-0.26) were associated with reduced fruit consumption among children(P<0.05). While gender(OR=2.20), average monthly income of family below 2 000 yuan (OR=6.94) and mild epidemic risk (OR=0.35) were associated with increased fruit consumption among children(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Children’s fruit and vegetable consumption were greatly affected by the inconvenience of food purchase during the period of COVID-19. Low-income families were less resilient, and their children’s food consumption was more likely to be affected. Parents’ high level of nutritional knowledge could help weaken the adverse impact of the epidemic on children’s diet.

Changes in children’s fruit and vegetable consumption and associated factors during COVID-2019 control period / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand fruit and vegetable consumption of children and associated factors during COVID-2019 control period, and to provide basis for growth and development of children.@*Methods@#In February 2020, 334 parents of children aged 2 to 15 years old from 22 provinces, cities and autonomous regions, including Hubei, Beijing, Shandong, Gansu were surveyed through the "Questionnaire Star" network questionnaire for the students’ fruit and vegatable consumption during the period of COVID-19, and Logistic regression analysis was conducted with multivariate analysis.@*Results@#Among the children, 26.4% of their vegetable consumption and 45.2% of their fruit consumption had changed. The multivariate analysis showed that inconvenient purchase (OR=6.52) were related to the decrease of children’s vegetable consumption. The 2-5 age group(OR=0.28), whether parents actively gained relevant knowledge of diet (OR=0.33) and mild epidemic risk (OR=4.35) were related to the increase of children’s vegetable consumption(P<0.05). Average monthly income of family(OR=6.27-8.39), inconvenient purchase(OR=2.93), and epidemic risk (OR=0.21-0.26) were associated with reduced fruit consumption among children(P<0.05). While gender(OR=2.20), average monthly income of family below 2 000 yuan (OR=6.94) and mild epidemic risk (OR=0.35) were associated with increased fruit consumption among children(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Children’s fruit and vegetable consumption were greatly affected by the inconvenience of food purchase during the period of COVID-19. Low-income families were less resilient, and their children’s food consumption was more likely to be affected. Parents’ high level of nutritional knowledge could help weaken the adverse impact of the epidemic on children’s diet.