Dr Nina Rogers

UK soft drinks levy linked to fall in child hospital admissions for tooth extraction - MRC Epidemiology Unit The UK soft drinks industry levy introduced in 2018 may have reduced the number of under 18s having a tooth removed due to tooth decay by 12%. Research published today […]

Research by @ninarogers.bsky.social & Prof. David Conway incicates the SDIL may have reduced tooth removal in under 18's due to tooth decay by 12%, saving >5,500 hospital admissions for tooth decay with the largest reductions in children aged 0-9 years.

www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/blog/2023/11...

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Sugar intake fell in children and adults after announcement of UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy - MRC Epidemiology Unit An analysis of 11 years of data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey has found that daily free sugar intake fell by around 5 g in children and […]

An analysis of UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey data led by @ninarogers.bsky.social and @jeanmadams.bsky.social found daily free sugar intake fell by 5g in children and 11g in adults following the announcement of the SDIL in 2016.

www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/07...

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Budget live updates: Packaged milkshakes and lattes to be included in sugar tax for first time in UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting announces the changes ahead of tomorrow's Budget.

🧋 A NEW sugar tax on milkshakes and lattes has just been announced. Our work found the #sugartax has been beneficial for children's health (obesity, dental & asthma) & has reduced sugar intake. This is evidence-informed public health policy in action www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg...

· 🔽sugar consumption from soft drinks in adults and children jech.bmj.com/content/jech...

· 🔽rates of childhood hospital admissions for asthma

· 🔽hospital tooth extractions among infants and primary school children pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38264366

Using multiple datasets, I’m proud to have led work triangulating evidence on health/dietary impacts of UK SDIL

Our findings indicate:
· 🔽 obesity prevalence among Year 6 girls, with particularly strong effects for children living in more deprived areas
journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

The Evening Edition with Kait Borsay | Times Radio | The Times and the Sunday Times Listen to Times Radio live for the latest breaking news, expert analysis and well-informed discussion covering the biggest stories of the day.

📻 Last night I spoke with Kait Borsay on Times Radio (@listentotimesradio.bsky.social ) about the UK government’s plan to ban energy drinks for under-16s🥤

🎧 Catch up here (my segment starts at 1:27:47) www.thetimes.com/radio/show/2...

@lshtm.bsky.social

📢Proposal for high-caffeine energy drinks to be banned for children aged 16 and below. www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...

Health impacts of takeaway management zones around schools in six different local authorities across England: a public health modelling study using PRIMEtime - BMC Medicine Background In England, the number of takeaway food outlets (‘takeaways’) has been increasing for over two decades. Takeaway management zones around schools are an effective way to restrict the growth…

Modelling of estimated changes in BMI from changes in takeaway exposure from 2018 to 2040, finds that takeaway management zones in England have the potential to meaningfully contribute towards reducing obesity prevalence and associated healthcare burden in the adult population.

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19 months after the introduction of the UK’s Sugar Drinks Industry Levy, households with children bought fewer sugary drinks!

But researchers also found that sugary drink purchases went up by 14% in households WITHOUT children.

Read - buff.ly/kgiuoAs

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Takeaways can negatively impact the diet and diet-related health outcomes of local residents

Local authority urban planners can deny planning for new takeaways in management zones around schools

But what are the long term impacts of these exclusion zones?

Read - buff.ly/S04RDSP

Strong words from Ursula von der Leyen today:

“Science belongs to humanity. We must protect it, prioritize it, and give it the freedom it needs to flourish.”

At the launch of the EU’s “Choose Science - Choose Europe” initiative, she announced four key actions.

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Our research shows substantial sugar purchased from the category "milk & milk-based drinks" (although we didn't look at these separately). Plain milk is nutritious and not part of the consultation. Other exempt groups (eg: powders) could be considered bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo...

A lower tax threshold (4g/100 ml) should reduce sugar intake given manufacturers reformulated drinks to just below the 5g /100ml. A step-wise graded system to incentivise lower sugar levels should be considered plus a higher tax on drinks with very high sugar (>10g sugar/100ml)

In conclusion, our comprehensive analysis of the UK SDIL, using multiple data sources to understand the health impacts of the sugar tax, suggests large population-wide benefits across the life-course starting with infants and children.

The UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy and childhood hospital admissions for asthma in England - Nature Communications Asthma is one of the most common diseases in childhood and for which the UK has the highest mortality rates in Europe. Here, the authors show that the UK soft drinks industry levy was linked with a fa...

Accumulating evidence suggests links between soft drinks & increased risk of asthma symptoms in children.We found a 21% reduction in incidence rates of NHS hospital admissions for asthma in children, aged 5-18y. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Inside Health - Can supervised toothbrushing fix the children's dental crisis? - BBC Sounds Around a third of British children have tooth decay. Is supervised toothbrushing the fix?

~ 2 years post-SDIL we find a 12% relative reduction in NHS hospital admissions for tooth extraction in children aged 0-18 years. ⬇️⬇️ greatest in infants/young children & regardless of deprivation. Hear me talking to
@BBCRadio4 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Associations between trajectories of obesity prevalence in English primary school children and the UK soft drinks industry levy: An interrupted time series analysis of surveillance data Nina T Rogers and colleagues investigate changes in the levels of obesity in children aged 4-5 years and 10-11 years, 19 months after the implementation of UK soft drinks industry levy.

We examined obesity levels in primary school children & found SDIL was related to ~5200 fewer cases/year of obesity in 10-11 year old girls. ⬇️were greatest in girls from 40% most deprived areas (relative reduction: 9-11%).No change in boys/reception-ages. journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...

Estimated changes in free sugar consumption one year after the UK soft drinks industry levy came into force: controlled interrupted time series analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2011... Background The UK soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) was announced in March 2016 and implemented in April 2018, encouraging manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of soft drinks. This is the first st...

~1 year post-SDIL there was a daily ⬇️in sugar consumption from soft drinks of 3g in children and 5.5g in adults; across the whole diet reductions in sugar intake were 4.8g & 10.9g/day, respectively. Full read jech.bmj.com/content/78/9...

Changes in household purchasing of soft drinks following the UK soft drinks industry levy by household income and composition: controlled interrupted time series analysis, March 2014 to November 2019 Background The WHO recommends taxes on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) to improve population health. We examined changes in volume of and amount of sugar in purchases of soft drinks according to hous...

19 months post-SDIL there were ⬇️ of 7.5g sugar from drinks/house/week BUT ⬇️ much greater (70g/wk) in low income houses & houses with children in them (56 g/wk). Sugar from confectionary was unchanged suggesting no substitution to other sugary items. nutrition.bmj.com/content/earl...

I led research on the health/dietary impacts of the UK SDIL and used different data to examine the impact of SDIL on: 1)purchasing of sugar from drinks, 2)sugar consumption in adults/children 3)obesity (primary school) 4) dental extractions 5) asthma. Here is what we found:

The Uk government are consulting on extending the UK sugar tax by 1) including milk-based drinks (previously exempt) and 2) Lowering the threshold of the tax to cover drinks with >4g sugar/100ml (previously 5g/100 ml). www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🆕"How can we make food that is good for health, societies, the planet and the economy?"

Richard Westcott talks to experts Jonathan Stieglitz, IAST, & @martinwhite33.bsky.social, @mrcepid.bsky.social, in this month's #CrossingChannels #Podcast

Listen: pod.fo/e/2c3eac

We were pleased to organise a Parliamentary discussion on sugar with the APPG for Dentistry and Oral Health and @oha-updates.bsky.social

Our Mick Armstrong spoke movingly about the shame and trauma of the families whose children need to have decayed teeth extracted in hospital.

I think I spot some figures from @ninarogers.bsky.social paper where we reported a 12% reduction in admissions for severe dental caries in children following introduction of the levy (and maybe even Nina herself in the foreground there!).

nutrition.bmj.com/content/bmjn...

Thanks Jean, great to see our findings highlighted in parliament, as the principal piece of evidence for the success of SDIL on preventing tooth extraction in children. If only dental data from community settings was available to evaluate further!

ASO attended a Parliamentary roundtable yesterday on the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), discussing its role in improving public health through sugar reduction.

Great to see @katfoodjenner.bsky.social from @oha-updates.bsky.social on the panel, sharing evidence of its impact and future potential.

Impacts were greatest in the lowest income households (14% reduction) and those with children (13.7% reduction. These households also had the highest pre-intervention purchasing. So the levy may help reduce inequalities in diet and health.

Background The WHO recommends taxes on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) to improve population health. We examined changes in volume of and amount of sugar in purchases of soft drinks according to household income and composition, 19 months following the implementation of the UK soft drinks industry levy. Methods Data were from the Kantar Fast Moving Consumer Goods panel, a market research panel which collects data on weekly household purchases (mean weekly number of households=21 908), March 2014–November 2019. Interrupted time series analysis of volume and sugar purchases was used to estimate absolute and relative differences in the volume and amount of sugar in soft drinks, confectionery and alcohol purchased weekly by household income (<£20 000, £20–50 000 or >£50 000) and composition (presence of children (<16 years) in the household (yes or no)), 19 months after soft drinks industry levy (SDIL) implementation, compared with the counterfactual scenario based on pre-announcement trends and using a control group (toiletries). Results By November 2019, purchased weekly sugar in soft drinks fell by 7.46 g (95% CI: 12.05, 2.87) per household but volumes of drinks purchased remained unchanged, compared with the counterfactual. In low-income households, weekly sugar purchased in soft drinks decreased by 14.0% (95% CI: 12.1, 15.9) compared with the counterfactual but in high-income households increased by 3.4% (1.07, 5.75). Among households with children, sugar purchased decreased by 13.7% (12.1, 15.3) but increased in households without children by 5.0% (3.0, 7.0). Low-income households and those with children also reduced their weekly volume of soft drinks purchased by 5.7% (3.7, 7.7) and 8.5% (6.8, 10.2) respectively. There was no evidence of substitution to confectionary or alcohol. Conclusion In the second year following implementation of the SDIL, effects on sugar purchased were greatest in those with the highest pre-SDIL purchasing levels (low-income household…

ICYMI: Our new paper on the impact of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy is out. 19 months after implementation, we found that households purchased 7.5g less sugar from soft drinks compared to expected - equivalent to a 2.6% reduction. nutrition.bmj.com/content/earl...