Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33997244›Full record

ArticleSSM - population health2021

Changes in take-home aerated soft drink purchases in urban India after the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST): An interrupted time series analysis.

Cherry Law, Kerry Ann Brown, Rosemary Green, Nikhil Srinivasapura Venkateshmurthy, Sailesh Mohan, Pauline F D Scheelbeek, Bhavani Shankar, Alan D Dangour, Laura Cornelsen

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Article in SSM - population health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Cherry LawDepartment of Public Health, Environments and Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, WC1H 9SH, London, UK.
Kerry Ann BrownFaculty of Public Health & Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK.
Rosemary GreenCentre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
Nikhil Srinivasapura VenkateshmurthyCentre for Chronic Disease Control, C1/52, 2nd Floor, Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi, 110016, India.
Sailesh MohanCentre for Chronic Disease Control, C1/52, 2nd Floor, Safdarjung Development Area, New Delhi, 110016, India.
Pauline F D ScheelbeekCentre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
Bhavani ShankarInstitute for Sustainable Food and Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Winter St, Sheffield, S3 7ND, UK.
Alan D DangourCentre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
Laura CornelsenDepartment of Public Health, Environments and Society, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, WC1H 9SH, London, UK.

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/P021999/1Wellcome Trust 205200/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTaxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are increasingly being implemented as public health interventions to limit the consumption of sugar and reduce associated health risks. In July 2017, India imposed a new tax rate on aerated (carbonated) drinks as part of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform. This study investigates the post-GST changes in the purchase of aerated drinks in urban India.

methodsAn interrupted time series analysis was conducted on state-level monthly take-home purchases of aerated drinks in urban India from January 2013 to June 2018. We assessed changes in the year-on-year growth rate (i.e. percentage change) in aerated drink purchases with controls for contextual variables.

resultsWe found no evidence of a reduction in state-level monthly take-home aerated drink purchases in urban India following the implementation of GST. Further analysis showed that the year-on-year growth rate in aerated drink purchases increased slightly (0.1 percentage point per month, 95%CI = 0.018, 0.181) after the implementation of GST; however, this trend was temporary and decreased over time (0.008 percentage point per month, 95%CI = -0.015, -0.001).

conclusionsIn India, a country currently with low aerated drink consumption, the implementation of GST was not associated with a reduction in aerated drink purchase in urban settings. Due to the lack of accurate and sufficiently detailed price data, it is not possible to say whether this finding is driven by prices not changing sufficiently. Furthermore, the impact of GST reform on industry practice (reformulation, marketing) and individual behaviour choices (substitution) is unknown and warrants further investigation to understand how such taxes could be implemented to deliver public health benefits.

Indexed as

Consumer purchaseIndiaInterrupted time seriesSoft drinksTax

Identifiers

PMID33997244
PMCPMC8102159

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.