Ban junk food ads until after the watershed to tackle child obesity, say doctors Doctors also call for fizzy drinks to be heavily taxed Fast food outlets should also be banned from opening near schools Junk food adverts should be banished from TV until after 9pm, according to leading doctors. They are also calling for fizzy drinks to be heavily taxed and fast-food outlets forbidden from opening near schools. The Academy of Royal Medical Colleges - which represents 220,000 doctors - warns that tougher measures are needed to tackle Britain's obesity crisis. Growing problem: The Academy of Royal Medical Colleges - which represents 220,000 doctors - warns that tougher measures on advertising junk food are needed to tackle Britain¿s obesity crisis But it warns that existing government policies to tackle the problem have been "disappointingly ineffective." One in three people are obese in Tamworth, earning it the embarrassing title of the fattest town in Britain. There are such serious obesity problems in the Staffordshire town that many residents rely on mobility scooters to get around but do not recognise that they have weight issues, experts say. People are considered obese if their body mass index - a measure of their weight compared with their height - is more than 30. An average of 24.5 per cent of adults in England met this criteria in 2008. But in Tamworth - and Gateshead, which shares its title - the proportion is 30.7 per cent. In Tamworth, which has a population of 76,000, three in five adults admit they are completely inactive. Professor Terence Stephenson, an expert in child health and chair of the Association said: "It is no exaggeration to say that it is the biggest public health crisis facing the UK today. Yet too often, vested interests dub it too complex to tackle. Doctors are often accused of playing the nanny state, we didn't hear from a single person who said they liked being overweight, everybody we met wanted help from the state and society. If we didn't have things like this we wouldn't have speed limits that save lives, we wouldn't have drink-driving limits that save lives, there's a host of things that society and state does to help us live long, healthy fulfilling lives and we're just suggesting something similar. It's now time to stop making excuses and instead begin forging alliances, trying new innovations to see what works and acting quickly to tackle obesity head on - otherwise the majority of this country's health budget could be consumed by an entirely avoidable condition. The academy calls for TV adverts for fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate and fast-food to be banned until after the 9pm watershed. Widespread issue: At present nearly two thirds of adults and one in three children are too fat, according to NHS data Under current rules they cannot be shown in-between, before or immediately after children's programs. But there is nothing to stop them being screened around shows that children are likely to watch such as soaps or football matches. The doctors also want fizzy drinks to be taxed at a rate of 20 per cent, raising the price of a 65p can of coke to 78p. This would be in addition to VAT, chargeable on soft drinks, which is currently 20 per cent. They also want to limit the number of fast-food outlets near schools and leisure clubs and for hospitals to ban vending machines. In addition, they are urging the NHS to set aside £100million for weight-loss surgery and other treatments. The Government has been heavily criticised over its policy to tackle obesity which campaigners including Jamie Oliver have branded "utterly inadequate." There is particular concern over a scheme which allows junk food firms to set their own rules for cutting levels of salt, sugar and fat. Campaigners have accused ministers of "cosying-up" to the food industry and say it must be compulsory for them to make their products healthier. Terry Jones, from the Food and Drinks Federation, dismissed the recommendations as a "collection of unbalanced ideas apparently heavily influenced by single-issue pressure groups."