The country's chief medical officer has told a parliamentary committee of MPs that sugar was addictive and the introduction of a sugar tax was needed urgently.
Speaking to the committee, Dame Sally Davies said that she believed that "research will find sugar is addictive".
She said "We may need to move toward some kind of sugar tax. I do fear this generation of children will live less than my parents' generation."
"They will be the first generation that live less, and that is of great concern".
UK consumes more than 5,727 million litres of sugary soft drinks a year. Adding a 20 pence tax for every litre sold would raise more than £1.1 billion.
About 64% of adults in the UK are considered to be overweight or obese.
Professor Terence Stephenson, chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said sugar gave people a "rapid high" which then drops while they are still producing insulin, resulting in a "craving" for more.
UK's Department of Health already has a responsibility deal - a series of voluntary pledges by industry designed to tackle issues such as obesity.
Under the deal, Britain has asked all fast food companies to cut down sugar content in their products by 30% from immediate effect.
One in four adults in England is obese with the numbers expected to climb to 60% of men, 50% of women, and 25% of children by 2050.
Three in every 10 children aged between two and 15 are overweight or obese.
Obesity and diabetes already costs the UK over £5 billion every year which is likely to rise to £50 billion in the next 36 years.
An Action On Sugar campaign launched recently has calculated that a 20 to 30% reduction in sugar added by the food industry which, given a reasonable timeframe (3-5 years) is easily achievable, would result in a reduction in calorie intake of approximately 100kcal/day.
Experts said added sugar in our diet is a very recent phenomenon (150 years) and only occurred when sugar, obtained from sugar cane, beet and corn, became very cheap to produce.
No other mammal eats added sugar and there is no requirement for added sugar in the human diet.
Chairman of Action on Sugar, professor Graham MacGregor said "We must now tackle the obesity epidemic both in the UK and worldwide. The present government and Department of Health Responsibility Deal has been shown to have had no effect on calorie intake and we must start a coherent and structured plan to slowly reduce the amount of calories people consume by slowly taking out added sugar from foods and soft drinks. This is a simple plan which gives a level playing field to the food industry".
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, UK, Simon Capewell says "Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focussed on profit not health. The obesity epidemic is already generating a huge burden of disease and death. Obesity and diabetes already costs the UK over £5billion every year. Without regulation, these costs will exceed £50billion by 2050".
UK's largest group of doctors — the 2.2 lakh strong Academy of Medical Royal Colleges recently asked the David Cameron led government to immediately impose a 20% tax on sugary drinks to save Great Britain — the 'fat man' of Europe from the serious threat of obesity.
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