Do financial constraint and perceived stress modify the effects of food tax schemes on food purchases: moderation analyses in a virtual supermarket experiment

• Main Authors: Sanne K Djojosoeparto (Author), Maartje P Poelman (Author), Michelle Eykelenboom (Author), Mariëlle A Beenackers (Author), Ingrid HM Steenhuis (Author), Maartje M van Stralen (Author), Margreet R Olthof (Author), Carry M Renders (Author), Frank J van Lenthe (Author), Carlijn BM Kamphuis (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Cambridge University Press, 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.1017/S1368980024000077; 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• Keywords: Financial constraint; Perceived stress; Food-related taxes; Healthiness food purchases; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases; RC620-627
• Source: Public Health Nutrition, Vol 27 (2024)

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.