Taxing highly processed foods: What could be the impacts on obesity and underweight in sub-Saharan Africa?

Ole Boysen, Kirsten Boysen-Urban, Harvey Bradford and Jean Balié ()

World Development, 2019, vol. 119, issue C, 55-67

Abstract: The consumption of highly processed food has been singled out as one of the factors responsible for the rapidly increasing prevalence of obesity and its associated non-communicable diseases and costs. While obesity prevalence is still comparatively low in lower-income sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), development prospects in this region render markets especially attractive for these foods, whose consumption is already growing at higher rates than in developed countries. This might be reflected in the massive rise in obesity prevalence growth rates in SSA over the past decade, while many of these countries are simultaneously struggling with high undernutrition prevalence.

Keywords: Highly processed foods; Obesity; Underweight; Food taxes; Trade; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:119:y:2019:i:c:p:55-67

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.03.006

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