FOOD and drink should be banned on public transport, a chief medical officer has said.

A report said the move could help tackle child obesity.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, who is the chief medical advisor to the Government, recommended that it “prohibit eating and drinking on urban public transport, except fresh water, breastfeeding and for medical conditions”.

The report aimed to make suggestions to the Government which would see it able to halve childhood obesity by 2030.

It included a study which showed that 34 per cent of children aged between ten and 11 were found to be overweight in the academic year 2017-18.

A total of 16 per cent were obese and four per cent were severely obese.

A similar study from 1990 showed just 15 per cent of children from this age group were overweight with none severely obese.

Other measures she suggested to combat childhood obesity were "increasing the opportunities to run, explore and play", "develop a viable system to apply an upper level cap on calories per serving for all food and drink sold by the out-of-home food and drink sector" and "phase out all marketing, advertising and sponsorship of less healthy food and drink products".

Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "I want to see our children’s health, not companies’ profits, put at the forefront of government policy.

"It is every child’s right to live in a world that promotes, not harms, their health."