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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Sep 4

📻 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

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.

www.thetimes.com

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Sep 2

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

expert reaction to Government proposal to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old | Science Media Centre

www.sciencemediacentre.org

Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

MRC Epidemiology Unit @mrcepid.bsky.social · Jul 31

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.

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…

buff.ly

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

MRC Epidemiology Unit @mrcepid.bsky.social · Jul 17

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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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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

MRC Epidemiology Unit @mrcepid.bsky.social · Jul 16

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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

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Eva Hyldgaard 🇩🇰 Dane for Democracy @evahyldgaard.bsky.social · May 5

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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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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...

bmjopen.bmj.com

Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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)

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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.

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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...

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...

www.nature.com

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

~ 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/...

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?

www.bbc.co.uk

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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...

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.

journals.plos.org

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

~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...

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...

jech.bmj.com

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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...

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...

nutrition.bmj.com

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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:

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Apr 29

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...

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Bennett Institute for Public Policy @bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk · Apr 7

🆕"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

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

British Dental Association @thebda.bsky.social · Mar 26

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.

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Jean Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦 @jeanmadams.bsky.social · Mar 26

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...

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Dr Nina Rogers @ninarogers.bsky.social · Mar 26

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!

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Association for the Study of Obesity UK @ukaso.bsky.social · Mar 26

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.

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Jean Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦 @jeanmadams.bsky.social · Feb 6

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.

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Jean Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦 @jeanmadams.bsky.social · Feb 6

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...

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…

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Society for Social Medicine & Population Health @socsocmed.bsky.social · Jan 22

🥁Abstract submission now live for this year's conference!🥁

Conference dates: Wednesday 10th - Friday 12th September 2025, with an ECR day on Tuesday 9th

Where: Bradford

Submit your abstract here: bit.ly/3PKGo2k

Submission deadline: 23:59 GMT, Monday 24th February 2025

📷 Neil Turner

Bradford City Hall, taken from the 8th floor seminar suite at the National Media Museum.

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Reposted by Dr Nina Rogers

Greg Fell @felly500.bsky.social · Jan 20

nutrition.bmj.com/content/earl...

Tax works
Sugar consumption edition
Helpful reminder

To remind for almost any non communicable disease where "lifestyle" (term used advisedly) is at play the real answers are in
1. regulating industries that produce harm, and products

....

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...

nutrition.bmj.com

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