FIZZY drinks are driving up childhood obesity in Britain and around the world, a study shows.
Data shows quaffing one a day raises the risk of being fat by 14 per cent, researchers found.
GettyFizzy drinks are driving up childhood obesity in Britain and around the world, a study shows[/caption]
Nearly four in 10 British kids are overweight or obese by the time they leave school and the figure is rising.
Dr Huan Hu, of the Japanese National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health, said: “Reducing soft drink consumption is crucial for combating adolescent obesity.
“Urgent actions should be employed to curb the consumption of sugary drinks.”
One in 10 children aged four to five were obese in England last year, while a further 12 per cent were overweight.
The numbers were higher in children aged 10 to 11, with nearly a quarter obese and 14.3 per cent overweight in the same year.
Childhood obesity is linked with a range of deadly complications in later life, including heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
Experts have raised concern about soaring levels, with hospital admissions for obesity in under-17s surging 40 per cent in a year in 2021 to 2022.
Last month, the NHS announced it was opening 10 more clinics for obese children to cope with bulging demand.
The latest research, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at data from 405,528 teenagers across 107 countries.
Overweight and obesity rates varied from 3.3 per cent in Cambodia to 64 per cent in the Pacific island Niue.
The proportion of kids that drank one or more cans a day also varied to a similar level, from 3.3 per cent in Iceland to 79.6 per cent in Niue.
Drinking the beverages was “inextricably linked” with obesity, researchers said.
For every 10 per cent more children drinking soft drinks every day, obesity rates increased by 3.3 per cent.
They said the best way countries reduced how many overweight or obese children there were was by introducing sugar taxes.
Professor Graham MacGregor, of Queen Mary University of London, said: “When it comes to tackling childhood obesity our current Government has wasted time and cost lives.
“Only one action, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, has been successful.
“This one simple and practical approach would benefit the worst off in our society and save the NHS billions of pounds each year.”