The Implication of the 2006 European Sugar Market Reform on the Incidence of Overweight in the Netherlands

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to study the effect of the 2006 European sugar market reform on the incidence of overweight in the Netherlands. Countless products consumed on a regular basis do partly consist of this sweet and irresistable stuff. Consequently, policies affecting the sugar market can have vast impacts on the diet and health of people. How did the Comman Agricultural Policy (CMO) affect the sugar price? Does sugar consumption change as a result of price decreases? How could this have an effect on the prevelance of overweight in the Netherlands? I use macroeconomic data from the Netherlands and find a positive effect of the imported raw sugar price on overweight. Furthermore, the policy was the major contributer of a price decrease imported raw sugar. Yet, interestingly, the policy did not have an effect on the incidence of overweight in the Netherlands up to this point.