Will proposed 'fat tax' on junk food lower obesity rates ?

In the same way as taxing cigarettes helped to reduce smoking and related illnesses, would raising the price of junk food by taxation - as Denmark has done - help lower obesity rates in the UK?
That's the million dollar question government officials are asking today.

The United Kingdom is the fattest nation in Europe, with one third of children and two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, reports the UK Department of Public Health.

The study predicted that if no action was taken to curb the intake of 'junk foods', 60% of men, 50% of women and 25% of children would be obese by 2050.

Obesity can have a severe impact on people’s health, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and heart and liver disease, says medical experts.

The present concern facing the UK government is the future burden on the NHS - direct costs caused by obesity are estimated to be £4.2 billion per year and forecast to more than double by 2050 if we carry on as we are. We want people to know that they can change their lifestyle and make a difference to their health, said UK Public Health Officials.

In countries like Denmark, where there is a added tax for junk food, Officials said there are signs that obesity among younger children is actually falling for the first time in 60 years.

But adult obesity is still on the increase and the government is anxious to reverse that trend.
"We've been relying on and emphasising self-responsibility for the last 50 years and it doesn't work," Charlotte Kira Kimby, of the Danish Heart Foundation told BBC news.

The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is due to publish a white paper on public health for England shortly. In it, he will lay out his strategy for tackling obesity, according to the BBC news.

"For now it seems, any idea of a junk food tax is already off the table. Nudges are very important. Tax is not a nudge, tax is a shove," he said.

"If you start down the route of taxation, quite often you get quite a lot of push back against that. The public does not think it's our job to be trying to tell people what to do."