A FIGHT against childhood obesity is beginning in Hampshire with a bid to get the government to introduce a sugar tax.

A pair of Hampshire County Councillors are going to present a motion at full council next month urging the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt to help reduce widening waistlines.

Baddesley division councillor Alan Dowden and Yateley East, Blackwater and Ansells division councillor Adrian Collett want civic bosses at Hampshire County Council to urge Parliament to introduce a sugar tax “to discourage sugar consumption".

The motion at full council on February 18 would seek clearer labelling on sugar-laden drinks and food.

It is something that has been previously put forward by TV chef Jamie Oliver.

They also want Mr Cameron and Mr Hunt to release a report into strategies for reducing obesity. Cllr Dowden said: “Some people are oblivious to how much sugar is in the drink. It can be from 19-and-a-half spoonfuls of sugar in one drink to 10 or eight.

“I asked some youngsters who were drinking coca cola it they had any idea how much sugar they were drinking. They had no idea.

“It’s a serious matter, you can see it everywhere.

“When I was youngster if one child in class was overweight everybody noticed. Now one in five children are obese.”

Daily Echo:

It has been estimated a 20 per cent sugar tax, 7p on a can of a soft drink, could raise up to a £1 billion a year.

An online petition urging the government to do so has seen more than 154,000 signatures.

But the Prime Minister is reported to have ruled out a tax while critics claim the tax could damage businesses.

Cllr Dowden added: “I’m not blaming people for becoming obese. It’s like Jamie Oliver said, there could be better labelling.

“We’re taking too much of it, that’s why I put forward this motion.”

Cllr Dowden, admitted to being insulin diabetic following an illness.

He said: If I had to rely on going into a supermarket having packets of food rather than my wife preparing it, I’d have great difficulty.”

He urged his fellow councillors to approve the motion.

“I think they should, it’s in the public interest. I care about people’s health,” he said.