Tax on sugary drinks could save 3 million from obesity

A SUGAR tax on soft drinks would prevent 3.7 million Britons from becoming obese in a decade, figures show.

A report by Cancer Research UK and the UK Health Forum think-tank calculates that a 20 per cent tax on the drinks would curb the rise in obesity rates.

It would also save the Government an estimated £10million in NHS care and welfare costs due to illnesses linked to obesity.

Around a quarter of adults are currently obese but this is expected to rise to a third by 2025. The report calculates that with a sugar tax it will increase to only 29 per cent.

Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer prevention, said: ‘These numbers make it clear why we need to act now before obesity becomes an even greater problem.

‘The Government has a chance to help reduce the amount of sugar consumed by adults and children and to give future generations the best chance of a healthier life.’

UK Health Forum deputy chief executive Jane Landon said countries that have introduced a tax on sugary drinks have both reduced consumption and raised revenues for public health measures.

‘Even a modest tax at 20 per cent could help to deliver the scale and pace of change needed to turn around the UK’s crisis of obesity-related ill-health,’ she said.

The calculations put further pressure on the Government to include a tax as part of a new obesity strategy that is due to be published imminently.