dc.contributor.advisor |
Mhurchu, C |
en |
dc.contributor.advisor |
Walker, N |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Bollard, Tessa |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2015-05-01T00:03:56Z |
en |
dc.date.issued |
2014 |
en |
dc.identifier.citation |
2014 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2292/25361 |
en |
dc.description |
Full text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic with over a third of the world’s population overweight or obese. New Zealand contributes to these statistics with two in three adults and one in five children classed as overweight or obese (Ministry of Health (MOH), 2014). Obesity is known to increase the risk of developing many adverse health outcomes including type two diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and several types of cancer. The fundamental cause of overweight and obesity is an imbalance in energy intake versus energy expenditure. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are the single largest contributor to the energy intake of New Zealanders and are therefore a significant cause of obesity. This is of particular concern as young people aged 16-24 years are the largest consumers of SSBs. SSBs are also linked with other adverse health consequences in young people such as poor dental health and impaired cognitive development. Several interventions have been suggested to reduce SSB consumption including plain packaging, warning labels, and taxes, but little research has been conducted to examine their potential effectiveness. A review of current literature shows similar interventions have been studied thoroughly on tobacco products. Plain packaging on tobacco products has been introduced in Australia and specifications for a plain packaging policy in New Zealand, as well as other countries, are currently being developed. Plain packaging has been shown to reduce appeal of tobacco in turn reducing the desire to smoke, particularly in young smokers. Over the past half-century, warning labels have been and continue to be a popular initiative to reduce smoking rates. They provide education on the harms of smoking and have been found to be effective in reducing consumption. Whilst text-only warning labels have primarily been suggested for SSB’s, the experience with tobacco suggests that graphic warning labels are far more effective. Taxes have also been shown to be a successful way to reduce consumption of tobacco. Increasing the price of SSB’s has also been studied in recent years with most findings suggesting a 20% tax on SSB’s would be successful in reducing intake.This study used a 2 x 3 x 2 between-groups experimental design in the form of an online survey to examine the impact of plain packaging, warning labels (both text-only and graphic), and a 20% tax on the preferences for SSB’s in adolescents and young adults (aged 13-24). Coca-Cola as the most consumed SSB both in New Zealand and worldwide was chosen as a representative SSB brand for the purposes of the survey. One of twelve images of Coca-Cola cans with differing levels of intervention was randomly displayed to each of the participants, and they were subsequently asked to answer questions about the SSB can image. Semantic differential scales were used to rate different measures of preference. The measures of preference were split into two groups. Measures of the SSB can image itself (expensive/cheap, unattractive/attractive, tastes bad/tastes good, low quality/high quality, uncool/cool, and unhealthy/healthy), and measures of typical consumers of the SSB can displayed (boring/interesting, unpopular/popular, unfashionable/fashionable, and old/young). The 11-point Juster Scale was used to determine participants’ likelihood of buying the can if it were available in stores. Likert scales were used to measure participants attitudes towards proposed implementation of the interventions. The online study collected data from 604 New Zealander’s aged 13-24 years who regularly consume soft drinks, recruited from a survey panel directly and via parents. Overall participants’ preferences were affected by all three interventions tested. On comparing the different types of warning labels, graphic warning labels were found to impact preferences significantly more than text-only warning labels. Plain packaging and warning labels were also found to reduce potential purchasing behaviours (p= <0.001), however the tax did not have a significant impact on purchase probability (p= 0.2). Participants’ perceptions of beverage healthiness was not affected by any of the interventions suggesting young people are already aware that soft drinks are unhealthy but continue to consume them regardless. Education initiatives such as warning labels therefore need to be designed carefully to maximise impact. Attitudes towards implementation of the interventions provided an interesting cross-check on likely effectiveness. Taxes, which participants said were least likely to affect their decision to purchase, were least favoured for introduction suggesting that the price increases caused by taxes may indeed be an effective disincentive. It is possible that the interventions favoured least by the participants are the interventions most likely to be effective.Reducing SSB intake in young people is an important step in addressing the obesity endemic and adverse health consequences currently occurring in New Zealand. This research provides important information to policy makers and to future researchers embarking on study in this area. More research should be completed in this area to cover some of the limitations in the scope of this thesis. This will expand the knowledge about interventions for reducing SSB consumption and therefore allow careful development of effective public health policies in this area. |
en |
dc.publisher |
ResearchSpace@Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Masters Thesis - University of Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.isreferencedby |
UoA99264767605102091 |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
en |
dc.rights |
Restricted Item. Available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland. |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ |
en |
dc.title |
The Impact of Plain Packaging, Warning Labels, and Taxes on Preferences for Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Adolescents and Young Adults. |
en |
dc.type |
Thesis |
en |
thesis.degree.discipline |
Nutrition and Dietetics |
en |
thesis.degree.grantor |
The University of Auckland |
en |
thesis.degree.level |
Masters |
en |
dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: The Author |
en |
pubs.elements-id |
486743 |
en |
pubs.org-id |
Liggins Institute |
en |
pubs.record-created-at-source-date |
2015-05-01 |
en |
dc.identifier.wikidata |
Q112904613 |
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