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According to the Ministry, the tax was designed to cut down the consumption of sugary and non-alcoholic beverages; however, many scientific studies and expert opinions show that the causes of overweight and obesity need to be recognized more fully.
Former deputy director of the National Institution of Nutrition Nguyen Thi Lam said there was no clear link between sugary drink consumption and obesity but there are many causes of overweight and obesity; some of them are overeating, excess energy needs, and little exercise.
To effectively solve this situation, it is necessary to objectively and fully assess the factors related to overweight and obesity, and especially promote education and communication on proper nutrition.
A sedentary lifestyle is a worrying fact that affects health, especially for children. A survey in Ho Chi Minh City showed that students exercised too little, with only 26.1 percent of high school students participating in exercise for at least 60 minutes a day. Up to 30 percent of secondary school students neither practice nor do daily activities. Worse, Vietnamese children spend a lot of time during the day just sitting still, watching TV, or playing games, and surfing social networks,
Notably, according to statistics and researches conducted by the Ministry of Health’s Institute of Nutrition, students in urban areas have a higher rate of overweight and obesity than their peers in rural areas with the percentage of 41.9 and 17.8.
Moreover, students in urban areas have a lower rate of soft drink consumption ( more than 3 times a week) with 16.1 percent while it is 21.6 percent in rural areas. About 51.1 percent of children in urban areas and 56.4 percent of children in rural areas consume sugary products such as confectionery, ice cream, and tea.
