Taxing highly processed foods: What could be the impacts on obesity and underweight in sub-Saharan Africa?

•Estimating effects of highly processed food (HPF) taxes on obesity and underweight.•Trade liberalization mitigates underweight but aggravates obesity prevalence in SSA.•Taxes on HPF reduce obesity, increase underweight but effects differ by region, income, gender.•Magnitude of consumption taxes needs to be very substantial to have a notable effect.•Integrated policy framework considering both issues simultaneously is required.