A LEADING Birmingham obesity doctor warned a “fat tax” on junk snacks would only work if the Government cut the price of healthy food too.

Consultant Shahrad Taheri, an obesity expert at Heartlands Hospital, welcomed the government’s proposals to place a surcharge on foods containing more than 2.3 per cent saturated fat – similar to a scheme introduced in Denmark.

Birmingham has already been shamed as the fattest city in Europe, with more than one in five city adults classed as obese along with 13 per cent of children aged four to five.

The senior doctor agreed with Prime Minister David Cameron that “drastic action” was needed to save lives as the weight crisis worsened.

But Mr Taheri, who is also a University of Birmingham lecturer, said: “A big problem is that unhealthy food is cheaper than other foods.

“If you put a high tax on fatty food, you don’t know how it will pan out as you need to bring the price of healthy food down too, to encourage people to eat it.

“If not, this could end up penalising a lot of poorer people.