"Because we know that 37 per cent of all the confectionery we buy comes on impulse, it doesn't matter how much your're intending not to buy it, if it's presented to you on impulse we know that's an extraordinarily powerful tool and that's why it happens."
David Cameron has recently signaled a sugar tax on sweet drinks might be under consideration by ministers for inclusion in the obesity strategy due out this year.
It marks a departure from previous statements in which he ruled out a 20 per cent tax on drinks.
Speaking this month the prime minister said: "I don't really want to put new taxes on anything but we do have to recognise that we face something of an obesity crisis.
"We do need to have a fully-worked-up programme to deal with this problem and address these issues in Britain and we will be making announcements later in the year."
He cited the huge strain conditions such as heart disease and diabetes put on the NHS. There has also been a shift in public support in favour of taxing drinks with a high sugar content in order to direct people towards healthier options.
Campaigners say the tax would cut obesity in the UK and money could be used to fund cookery lessons or NHS care.
The 20 per cent hike has recently been introduced by the NHS in vending machines and cafes in its hospitals.
Another Conservative MP Flick Drummond also backed the tax publicly, having previously been against it.
She told MPs during a backbench business debate: "She said: "I would like to see more cooking classes becoming mandatory for all schools.
"I would like to see the sugar tax, which like some of my colleagues I was against to start with, but if we can use the sugar tax to then fund cooking classes in schools then I am all for it."
But opponents warn a sugar tax would hit the poorest families hardest.
Patricia Gibson, an SNP MP, warned against the potential "unintended consequences" of introducing a sugar tax.
She said: "Certainly this is an option and one which it is quite right to consider, but we must be careful too of a tax which may disproportionately hit the poorest hardest.
"We all know that eating healthy is not always the most affordable for families on a tight budget and indeed a sugar tax must not be held up as some kind of panacea to a very complex problem.
"But if it is to be introduced we must be certain that the impacts on our health are positive without the unintended consequences of increasing inequalities."
Jane Ellison, the government minister who responded to Ms Wollaston's debate, said: "In the face of such high childhood obesity rates with such significant implications for the life chances of a generation, I think it is right tackling that - particularly in children - is one of the government's major priorities.
"And we showed the priority we place on this issue by making it a manifesto commitment."
Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4d0994bb/sc/13/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cfoodanddrink0C121139870CConservative0EMP0Ecalls0Efor0Ean0Eend0Eto0Echeap0Echocolate0Eand0Ejunk0Efood0Epromotions0Ein0Esupermarkets0Bhtml/story01.htm