Background and Objectives:
Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes. Many countries introduced taxation to face this Public Health issue. Thus, we aimed to summarize national taxation laws on SSBs and to assess their impact on population’s health.

Methods:
We conducted a systematic review up to May 2021. Time series analysis included Hungary, France, Fiji, Samoa, Nauru, Guatemala, Latvia, Norway, Palau, Panama, Tonga, and Finland. We used ordinary least square regression to evaluate modifications in the rate of change of standardized prevalence rates of obesity, overweight, and diabetes. A random-effects meta-regression was used to assess whether year of entry into force of the law, Human Development Index (HDI), and tax design affected the effectiveness of the intervention.

Results:
We included 60 tax laws issued between 1979 and 2020 by 43 countries. Results show a deceleration of the increasing prevalence rates of overweight among children in Hungary (β= -0.101, 95% CI: -0.217,0.015), Samoa (β= -0.148, 95% CI: -0.243,-0.052), Palau (β= -0.161; 95% CI: -0.310, -0.012), Panama (β= -0.068, 95% CI: -0.091,-0.045), Tonga (β= -0.492, 95% CI: -0.630,-0.354), Guatemala (β= -0.043, 95% CI: -0.104,0.018). The same holds for obesity in Hungary (β= -0.096, 95% CI: -0.236,0.044), Samoa (β= -0.117, 95% CI: -0.254,0.021), Nauru (β= -0.116, 95% CI: -0.170,-0.061), Guatemala (β= -0.038, 95% CI: -0.098,0.021), Palau (β= -0.145; 95% CI: -0.269,-0.021), Tonga (β= -0.283, 95% CI: -0.341,-0.224), Fiji (: β= 0.021, 95% CI: -0.145,0.188). Eventually, the year of entry into force of the law, the HDI, and the tax design have a significant effect on post-intervention coefficients for obesity.

Conclusions:
Taxation is highly heterogeneous across countries in term of products and design. In some countries taxation led to a deceleration of the increasing prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among children.