Popular chocolate bars could shrink by 20 per cent to combat childhood obesity

Chocolate bars and sweet snacks could be drastically cut in size in a bid to cut rising numbers of overweight children in England.

Health officials from Public Health England (PHE) have warned that childhood obesity has become an "urgent problem".

It has set out new guidelines which it argues will help the food industry reduce the amount of sugar children consume through everyday foods.

The guidelines suggest sugar should be cut from popular products through reformulating ingredients, reducing portion sizes or helping consumers shift to low sugar alternatives.

The Government's Childhood Obesity Plan – which called for 20 per cent less sugar in key products consumed by children – and the sugar levy on drinks will lead to a 20 per cent reduction in the number of overweight children over the next decade, PHE said.

What foods will be affected?

Breakfast cereals

Yoghurts

Biscuits

Cakes

Croissants, crumpets and scones

Puddings

Ice cream, lollies and sorbets

Chocolate

Sweets

Sweet spreads and sauces

Peanut butter

Jam or fruit spreads

The changes could result in around 200,000 tonnes of sugar being removed from UK diets each year from 2020.

But officials admitted that, even with their proposed sugar cuts, children will still be exceeding their recommended daily allowance of sugar.

The products at the focus of PHE's sugar reduction project are the most popular sugary products consumed by children.

Suggestions in the report include changing the recipe or portion size of cakes or reducing the portion size of chocolate bars and sweets.

"We know that customers tell us in our surveys that they want smaller portion sizes, we know that reducing portion sizes supports health," said Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE.

"We are all human - if we are given that portion we will eat it despite us knowing it is too big so it's going with the grain of health."

But PHE chief executive Duncan Selbie stressed PHE was not ordering chocolate manufacturers to make chocolate bars smaller - it was suggesting that could be a "legitimate way" to achieve a 20 per cent reduction.

PHE said that it hopes that by targeting foods eaten by children then whole families could reap the benefits.

The new guidelines set out recommended sugar and calorie limits in breakfast cereals, yoghurts, biscuits, cakes, puddings, ice creams and lollies, chocolate , sweets, morning goods including croissants and crumpets and spreads.