LONDON - Pointing to figures that reveal Britain is the fattest country in Europe, health experts in Britain have called for a 7-pence (11 U.S. cents) "fat tax" on each can of soft drinks in an attempt to curb childhood obesity, the Daily Mail reports.

With one out of three British children obese or overweight before they leave primary school, an alliance of 61 organizations, including physicians and the Royal Society for Public Health, are urging for the tax to be announced in the spring budget. They maintain the 20-pence-per-liter (31 U.S. cents) tax on bottles and cans of soft drinks would help curb consumption, thus helping reverse the country??s rising obesity rates.

Money raised through the tax would be allocated for a Children??s Future Fund, which would be spent on improving children??s health.

The proposal has the support of the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, which is the voice for Britain??s medical profession.

"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," said Dr. Mike Rayner, of the Department of Public Health at Oxford University. "'This modest proposal goes some way towards making the price of food reflect its true costs to society."

Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, opposes the tax and maintains it would not curb obesity.

"Obesity is a serious and complex problem, but a tax on soft drinks, which contribute just two per cent of the total calories in the average diet, will not help address it,?? he said. "Over the past ten years, the consumption of soft drinks containing added sugar has fallen by 9% while the incidence of obesity has increased by 15%."