1. Do financial constraint and perceived stress modify the effects of food tax schemes on food purchases: moderation analyses in a virtual supermarket experiment
- Author
-
Sanne K Djojosoeparto, Maartje P Poelman, Michelle Eykelenboom, Mariëlle A Beenackers, Ingrid HM Steenhuis, Maartje M van Stralen, Margreet R Olthof, Carry M Renders, Frank J van Lenthe, and Carlijn BM Kamphuis
- Subjects
Financial constraint ,Perceived stress ,Food-related taxes ,Healthiness food purchases ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases ,RC620-627 - Abstract
Abstract Objective: To investigate whether financial constraint and perceived stress modify the effects of food-related taxes on the healthiness of food purchases. Design: Moderation analyses were conducted with data from a trial where participants were randomly exposed to: a control condition with regular food prices, an sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax condition with a two-tiered levy on the sugar content in SSB (5–8 g/100 ml: €0·21 per l and ≥8 g/100 ml: €0·28 per l) or a nutrient profiling tax condition where products with Nutri-Score D or E were taxed at a 20 percent level. Outcome measures were overall healthiness of food purchases (%), energy content (kcal) and SSB purchases (litres). Effect modification was analysed by adding interaction terms between conditions and self-reported financial constraint or perceived stress in regression models. Outcomes for each combination of condition and level of effect modifier were visualised. Setting: Virtual supermarket. Participants: Dutch adults (n 386). Results: Financial constraint or perceived stress did not significantly modify the effects of food-related taxes on the outcomes. Descriptive analyses suggest that in the control condition, the overall healthiness of food purchases was lowest, and SSB purchases were highest among those with moderate/high levels of financial constraint. Compared with the control condition, in a nutrient profiling tax condition, the overall healthiness of food purchases was higher and SSB purchases were lower, especially among those with moderate/high levels of financial constraint. Such patterns were not observed for perceived stress. Conclusion: Further studies with larger samples are recommended to assess whether food-related taxes differentially affect food purchases of subgroups.
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF