Campaigners have called on the government to introduce a “fat tax” on foods containing too much salt or sugar to combat rising obesity rates among children.
New levies, based on the sugar tax on soft drinks, would make it easier for consumers to eat more healthily by forcing food manufacturers to reformulate their products, supporters said.
It comes as Professor Sir Chris Whitty warned healthy “food deserts” in cities combined with junk food advertising are setting children up to live “shorter and unhealthier” lives.
The annual report from England’s chief medical officer urges the government to tackle the root causes of unhealthy eating in England’s cities, including the high availability of foods rich in fat, sugar and salt.
The study states that the “food environment in parts of cities entrenches inequalities in health and promotes obesity”. Sir Chris said it is unrealistic to expect education and willpower alone to bring a reduction in food-related ill health when “as humans, we are genetically wired to crave calorie-rich food”.
Sir Chris said “meaningful change to food environments is possible”, with solutions including healthy food sales targets for businesses, specific taxes on unhealthy foods, and making it mandatory rather than voluntary for firms to report on what types and volumes of food they sell.
Expert groups are quoted in the report, with suggestions including an “excess profits” tax on retailers or producers of products with high sugar and salt content.
Kate Howard, coordinator for the Recipe for Change campaign at Sustain, stressed the group’s call for incentivising healthier food production through a new levy.
She added: “The food industry can and should do better when it comes to the products they sell us. A new industry levy has now been called for by multiple experts and support from the public remains high.
“The government needs to make 2025 the year that they listen to this mandate and create the incentives to build a healthier food industry.”
The think tank Impact on Urban Health found the soft drinks industry levy, also known as the “sugar tax”, is already having tangible and positive health impacts on children. it also found it did not harm sales or profitability for soft drinks companies.
Research has also shown the largest reductions in sugar intake resulting from the “sugar tax” have been in families living on low incomes.
The report further warns healthy food “is almost twice as expensive as unhealthy food”, affecting poorer families the most.
Children and families in inner-city areas are less likely to have access to healthy, affordable food options in local shops, restaurants and takeaways and are “disproportionately exposed to unhealthy food advertising”, the report said.
The report said the places people shop, especially families on lower incomes, are often “saturated” with unhealthy food choices.
It read: “This means that food-related ill health is not experienced equally by children, families and communities across the country, with children and families living in more deprived areas more acutely affected by a food system where the unhealthy options are often the most available.”
The report added the most deprived fifth of the population would need to spend 50 per cent of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the government-recommended healthy diet, compared with 11 per cent for the least deprived fifth.
It said: “The food environment in parts of cities entrenches inequalities in health and promotes obesity.
“Healthy food deserts combine with junk food advertising to set children and adults up to live a shorter and unhealthier life through obesity and the diseases it causes, particularly in the more deprived areas of our cities.”
Anna Garrod, director of policy at Impact on Urban Health, which is part of the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation, said: “Access to healthy, affordable food shouldn’t depend on your postcode, yet many children and families living in cities face significant barriers to accessing nutritious food, worsened by factors such as poverty and structural racism.
“The CMO’s (chief medical officer’s) report highlights clear pathways for policymakers, the food industry, and communities to come together, to reshape urban food environments so that nutritious options flow into every neighbourhood.”
The Department of Health has been contacted for comment.
