Study shows obesity epidemic puts 700000 people at risk of developing cancer

Ten types of cancer are linked to obesity, which can also lead to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and a range of other health problems.

She added: "Most people know that smoking causes cancer, but fortunately, most people in the United Kingdom now don't smoke". However, a 1% annual decline in the conversion of overweight people to obese, and rather to healthy weight, can reduce the NHS; expenditure by £300 million in 2035 and also avoid over 64,000 cancer cases.

"But I believe we can prevent the rising trend in obesity in the United Kingdom and across the world".

"If governments take children's health more seriously and use education to inspire them, it could have a huge impact on their health and wellbeing".

"We need to give these kids a chance to be healthier adults - starting with a tax on sugary drinks to tackle obesity and diet-related disease in young people". The charity reveals that sugar intake of children and teenagers have to be reduced.

Ministers are due to publish their long-awaited obesity strategy next month amid concerns from experts that they are not addressing the crisis.

The Cancer Research UK and UK Health Forum report says TV adverts for some food should be banned before 21:00. "We must act now to combat this threat", said Alison Cox, the charity's director of cancer prevention.

"We're raising a generation of children in a society where junk food is cheap, widely advertised, and packed full of sugar so it's hard to teach them how to make healthy choices. It's vital the Government restricts this kind of advertising if we are to give our children the chance for better and healthier lives".

Overweight is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 and 29.9.

Currently, around 30 per cent of adults - nearly one in three - are classed as overweight and a similar number are obese, meaning a total of around 60 per cent are deemed too fat.

Recent studies suggest obesity is linked to several cancers - including oesophageal (gullet), womb, and bowel tumours.

The report's recommended sugar tax would increase the price of a litre bottle of coke from £1.85 to £2.20, and a can from 68p to 75p.

They found a rise in untaxed drinks sales, mainly due to more purchases of bottled plain water.