Table 5.
Support for the government’s efforts regarding obesity and sugary drinks among respondents in the pre-campaign and post-campaign periods, including a comparison of post-campaign respondents who were aware and unaware of the campaign.
| Pre-Campaign | Post-Campaign | Post-Campaign | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p-Value | Unaware | Aware | p-Value | Adj. OR^ (95% CI) | p-Value | |||
| (n = 1000) | (n = 1000) | (n = 453) | (n = 547) | |||||
| Government Support (%) | ||||||||
| It is important for my government to be involved in helping to solve the problem of obesity in South Africa | 73 | 84 | <0.001 * | 84 | 83 | 0.694 | 0.92 (0.65, 1.30) | 0.631 |
| I intend to support government efforts to increase children’s access to healthy foods and drinks | 80 | 84 | 0.014 * | 85 | 84 | 0.534 | 0.89 (0.63, 1.27) | 0.530 |
| Government actions to reduce the public’s access to sugary drinks will hurt our economy | 70 | 69 | 0.961 | 72 | 68 | 0.185 | 0.81 (0.62, 1.07) | 0.144 |
| The government should pass and enforce policies that discourage the consumption of junk food and sugary drinks | 67 | 76 | <0.001 * | 78 | 75 | 0.244 | 0.89 (0.65, 1.20) | 0.429 |
| I support public education advertising campaigns that warn about the damages of sugary drinks and junk food on your health | 79 | 81 | 0.344 | 78 | 83 | 0.023 * | 1.50 (1.09, 2.08) | 0.013 * |
| I support restrictions on the sale and/or provision of sugary drinks and junk food in school | 66 | 74 | <0.001 * | 70 | 77 | 0.015 * | 1.48 (1.11, 1.98) | 0.009 * |
| I support banning or restricting advertising and/or marketing of sugary drinks and junk foods that is targeted at children | 63 | 69 | 0.005 * | 65 | 72 | 0.008 * | 1.56 (1.18, 2.06) | 0.002 |
| I support requiring clear labels on the front of food and beverage packages that tell consumers if products are high in sugar, salt or fat | 80 | 81 | 0.339 | 80 | 82 | 0.474 | 1.17 (0.84, 1.62) | 0.355 |
| I support a ban on the marketing or advertising of junk food/sugary drinks on school property and at school activities | 61 | 69 | <0.001 * | 65 | 73 | 0.007 * | 1.54 (1.17, 2.03) | 0.002 * |
| I support a tax on sugary drinks if the money collected were invested in public programmes | 62 | 70 | <0.001 * | 65 | 74 | 0.002 * | 1.67 (1.26, 2.20) | <0.001 * |
| As part of its plan to address obesity in South Africa, the Department of Health recommends increasing the tax on sugary drinks, and the Department of Finance/Treasury has proposed a tax on sugar content that amounts to a roughly 20% tax on sugary drinks. Do you support or oppose the government’s proposal to tax sugary drinks? | 43 | 58 | <0.001 * | 54 | 62 | 0.012 * | 1.46 (1.13, 1.89) | 0.004 * |
* Significant difference at p < 0.05. Abbreviations: OR, Odds Ratio; CI, Confidence Interval. ^ Covariates adjusted for include age, gender, living standard measure, frequency of watching TV. A significant adjusted OR indicates that even after confounding factors have been taken into account, the odds of the “aware” group’s reported intentions/behaviors are significantly different from the odds of the “unaware” group’s reported intentions/behaviors.