Over 60 medical groups are calling on George Osborne to introduce a fizzy drinks tax, in an effort to curb growing childhood obesity problems.

The hope is that the Chancellor would introduce into Budget 2013 a measure whereby a 20p per litre tax on sugary soft drinks tax would be moved to a pot to spend on the health and wellbeing of UK children.

The 61 organisations are backing the idea stemming from a report by Sustain, an alliance for improved food and farming methods, that highlights the £6bn it costs the NHS to combat diet-related illness and predicts a 20p levy would raise close to £1bn every year.

Mike Rayner of the Department of Public Health at Oxford University and chair of Sustain said: 'Just as we use fiscal measures to discourage drinking and smoking and help prevent people from dying early, there is now lots of evidence that the same approach would work for food. This modest proposal goes some way towards making the price of food reflect its true costs to society. Our obesity epidemic causes debilitating illness, life threatening diseases and misery for millions of people. It is high time government did something effective about this problem.'

The report also recommends, in the longer-term, that the VAT system is revised to reflect the healthiness of food and drinks, with unsustainable foods also carrying a levy.

In response to the fizzy drinks tax call, Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, said: 'At present, 10p out of every 60p can of drink already goes to the government thanks to VAT. Putting up taxes even further will put pressure on people's purses at a time when they can ill afford it. It's worth noting that Denmark recently scrapped such a tax.'