BMC Public Health

Adam DM Briggs, Oliver T Mytton, David Madden, Donal O'Shea, Mike Rayner, Peter Scarborough BMC Public Health 2013, 13:860 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-860

Some governments have recently shown a willingness to introduce taxes on unhealthy foods and drinks. In 2011, the Irish Minister for Health proposed a 10% tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) as a measure to combat childhood obesity. While this measure received considerable support, the Irish Department of Finance requested a Health Impact Assessment of this measure. As part of this assessment we set out to model the impact on obesity.