British Prime Minister David Cameron ruled out a sugar tax, with a spokesman saying there are “more effective ways” of dealing with childhood obesity, reports Sky News. Cameron’s decision came just as Public Health England (PHE) – “the government’s own advisers,” said Sky – recommended a sugar tax of 10-20 percent, restrictions on advertising high-sugar foods and drinks, limits on supermarket promotion of the sugary products, and calling on foodmakers to reduce the amount of added sugar. The PHE report was to be issued in July, “but was delayed so the government could take into account the findings before publishing its childhood obesity strategy early in the new year.”
The Cameron spokesman said the prime minister did not see the need for the tax and may not have read the PHE report. Dr. Alison Tedstone, PHE’s director of diet and obesity, told a parliamentary committee that a tax on sugary food and drink could help control childhood obesity.
Researchers say one in three children in Britain is overweight and one in five is obese, reported the BBC early this year. Rates rose steeply from 1994-2003 but have been fairly stable since. Obesity is blamed for chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.