Significant majority of people in Ireland support a ban on energy drinks for under 16-year olds

Reach Insights Press Release

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19th February 2019

Significant majority of people in Ireland support a ban on energy drinks for under 16-year olds, however 45% do not believe a sugar tax will lower rates of childhood obesity

72% believe a ban would be a good idea

Less consensus on the prospect of a sugar tax, though 45% of younger people feel it would lower child obesity rates

89% say that children and teenagers should do more sports in school and learn more about healthy living

The last year has seen large retailers such as Boots and Aldi introduce restrictions on the sale of energy drinks to under 16s, and a nationally representative survey of 1001 people carried out by iReach has found widespread support for such limitations. The Irish Government is yet to introduce similar proposals that would apply nationwide.

The research results found that 72% of people in Ireland believe that banning energy drinks for those under the age of 16 is a good idea. In Britain the government has already stated its intent to introduce such a blanket ban in the coming months.

Less consensus exists on the prospect of a sugar tax, with 45% who do not feel that such a charge would help to lower the obesity rates of children in Ireland.

Nonetheless, 34% are more positive about the potential impact of a sugar tax, and there is a large disparity in views across different age groups as 45% of those aged between 18 and 34 support the idea compared with only 29% of over 55s.

40% of males in Ireland back the introduction of a sugar tax whereas only 27% of females say that a sugar tax could reduce rates of child obesity.

An enormous 89% of respondents think that children and teenagers should do more sports in school as well as learn more about healthy living.

About iReach Insights

iReach Insights provides a range of research and market intelligence services in Ireland and Europe. iReach has built a Consumer Decisions Research Panel of 40,000 members in Ireland, delivering robust research insights. The survey questions were included in the Nationally Representative iReach Consumer Decisions Omnibus run between the 7th of February and the 14th of February has a 3% Confidence Interval and 95% Confidence Level.

Questions asked of participants:

Please state how much you agree or disagree with the following statements: Children/ Teenagers should do more sports in school and learn more about healthy living/ The sugar tax will help lower the obesity rates of children in our country/ Banning energy drinks for those under the age of 16 is a good idea.

iReach Insights Limited – Temple Hall, Temple Road, Blackrock, CO. Dublin, IRELAND.

iReach Managing Director: Oisin Byrne
T: 01-214 3740 or email: PR@ireachhq.com