Sugar tax needed to combat increase in child obesity and diabetes

THE latest revelations on the rising incidence of obesity among children in Singapore - and of projections of the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in the adult population - are nothing short of alarming. They reinforce the case for tough action to deal with these scourges, including (but not limited to) fiscal measures to discourage the consumption and regulate the sale of sugared drinks, among other items.

On Monday, The Straits Times carried a report on its front page quoting Chia Kee Seng, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, at the National University of Singapore, as saying that, based on epidemiological studies, more than a third of people in Singapore aged between 25 and 34 can expect to be diabetic by the time they are 65. The incidence of diabetes climbed from 8.6 per cent of the adult population in 1992 to 12.9 per cent last year, among the highest in the developed world; child obesity has also risen from 10 per cent in 2000 to 12 per cent in 2014.

These findings suggest that unless tough action is taken, a variety of health problems will multiply in the years to come, for early obesity and diabetes can lead to several other complications later on, including heart disease, stroke and cancer. As the population ages, this would mean health spending, including state-provided subsidies, would have to increase to levels significantly higher than currently projected. Moreover, as many of these are chronic diseases, expenditures and subsidies would have to remain high for several years.