Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s medical director, said that children have a role to play in educating their parents and family members about the risks of obesity and importance of a healthy diet.
The comments echo those by Susan Jebb, a government adviser on obesity, who said that children should act as ‘trojan horses’ and take messages about healthy lifestyles home.
Keogh told The Daily Telegraph: “I think from our point of view the obesity strategy needs to span a number of government departments. It needs to start with education which is very powerful because it gets to kids who in turn get to their parents and their siblings.
"It needs to start with sugar and other additives, which relate to the formulation of other commercially available products. It needs to relate to issues around transport and exercise."
Jebb predicts a backlash against the ideas and urges new mothers to wean their children with fruit and vegetables as opposed to high sugar foods.
She also criticised the government’s partial ban on fatty and sugary foods advertising during children’s shows, urging a blanket ban before the 9pm watershed and suggests a ban on two for one deals on unhealthy foods.