Measuring the Harm of Sugar Sweetened Beverages & Internalities Associated with it

Background: studies have shown that one potential cause of obesity is excessive sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption; and its health harm is not often fully accounted for when people are making consumption decisions. Objective: to measure the monetary value of harm from excessive SSB consumption, and further to estimate the value of internalities (the proportion of harm not considered) associated with it. Method: a contingent valuation survey was conducted to estimate people’s willingness-to-pays for health risk reductions, the results of which are further used to calculate the monetary value of harm from SSB consumption, and the internalities associated with it. Conclusion: the total marginal harm from sugar sweetened beverage consumption is approximately NZ$17.37 per litre, and the internalities (the proportion of harm not considered by a consumer) is NZ$6.43 per litre in Wellington, New Zealand. Our results are thought to be with limited generalizability