Food chiefs in the dock

Food and advertising chiefs are today under pressure to stop targeting unhealthy food at children after a scathing report on Britain's obesity epidemic.

Critics say the hard-hitting report from the Health Select Committee proves once and for all that business has to shoulder its responsibility for Britain's most devastating new health crisis.

One medical expert quoted in the report said Britain's most obese children were "choking on their own fat" and a three-year-old girl has died from obesity-related heart failure.

The report was published only days after some of the most powerful figures in the food lobby launched a last-ditch effort to persuade ministers to hold back from direct regulation on their industries.

Five senior figures signed a letter to Downing Street pleading for ministers to stick to voluntary agreements rather than bring in new controls. The five were: John Sunderland, 58, chairman of food and drink group Cadbury Schweppes and head of the Food and Drink Federation, which represents hundreds of food manufacturers; Niall FitzGerald, 58, chairman of Unilever and President of the Advertising Association; David Felwick, 59, deputy chairman of the John Lewis partnership and chairman of the British Retail Consortium, representing supermarkets; Tim Bennett, 50, President of the National Farmers' Union; Bob Cotton, 55, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association,

which represents thousands of caterers, hotels and restaurants.

However, health experts said the report showed that it was now too late for industry to be trusted to sort itself out.

Nutrition scientist Dr Susan Jebb, who gave evidence to the select committee said: "It is desperately important that the government maintains the stick of regulation to make sure the food industry acts. We need to keep up the pressure to make sure they do it."

David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum said: "The food industry that has been part of the problem, needs to become part of the solution by promoting healthy food."

Although the MPs' damning report stopped short of calling for an immediate total ban on adverts aimed at children it said food companies and advertisers should be given three years to voluntarily withdraw them or face legislation. The ultimatum came as extraordinary new evidence emerged of how food companies and advertisers seek to "infiltrate" children's culture to by-pass the protective influence of parents.

A submission from advertising agency Leo Burnett to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising for one of its "effectiveness" awards boasts how its campaign for Kellogg's Real Fruit Winders "entered the world of kids in a way never done before" and "managed not to let Mum in on the act".

Sugars make up a third of the product which won a Tooth Rot award in 2002.

The committee report quoted one industry publication saying that an eight-year-old boy was the perfect target for advertising as "he had 65 years of consumption ahead of him".

It also attacked the Government for not acting sooner and the NHS for not addressing the issue in GPs' workloads or having special obesity clinics.

The three-year-old girl who died from obesity-related heart failure is thought to be the first case of its kind in Britain. Dr Sheila McKenzie, a consultant at the Royal London Hospital, told the committee one child at her obesity clinic died weighing six stone - three times the ideal weight for her age. The girl, from East London had a Body Mass Index of

39.5. Anything over 25 is considered overweight and over 30 is clinically obese.

Dr McKenzie said another four of the children in her care had to have ventilators at home to help them breathe during the night. Their extreme weight means "they are choking on their own fat", she said.

Most consumer groups welcomed the report but said it is crucial that pressure is kept on the industries to act.

Dr Jebb, of the Human Nutrition Research Council, Cambridge, said: "The report says very firmly that there is need for tighter controls. We need to go back to them in six months and ask them what they have done. They need to come forward with some positive suggestions now."

She said there needed to be a total rethink of the way in which industries use glamorous images to promote their products.

"If David Beckham says drink Coke and mum says drink water you can tell who is going to win," she said.

Mr Haslam said action must follow the words. "This could be the food industry's Berlin Wall moment when events start to move very quickly."

A spokesman for the Health Development Agency said: "We support restrictions on advertising to young children, but a coherent approach is needed that includes promotions in schools, sponsorship schemes and magazines."

Tesco, the biggest retailer in the country, led the way by immediately announcing plans to implement the committee's suggestion of a traffic light labelling system on food. The MPs said such a system - where red would indicate highcalorie foods, amber medium and green low - would help customers tell the difference between healthy and less healthy products.

Martin Paterson, Food and Drink Federation Deputy Director General, said: "The obesity problem is complex: there are no quick fixes. We need government, industry and all stakeholders to work together to achieve results over the long term."