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Over a quarter of the products surveyed by Action on Sugar contain the same amount or more sugars than Coca Cola, which contains five teaspoons of sugar per 200ml glass.

With one in five children aged 4-5 and one in three children aged 10-11 now overweight or clinically obese, Action on Sugar is urging parents to give children water or whole fruit instead of high sugar juice drinks.

The report states, “Fruit juices do not need to be so sweet - products with less sugars are available if you read the label: for example, Innocent 100% Apple Juice for Kids contains 15.6g of sugars per 200ml, a third (32%) less than Morrison’s Apple Juice From Concentrate which has 22.8g of sugars per 200ml.”

The report also criticises the current UK guidelines as a 150ml glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice can count as one of your 5-a-day. However, only six of the products surveyed are sold in 150ml portion size packaging, which makes it difficult for parents looking to make a healthy choice with for their children.

Chairman of Action on Sugar, professor Graham MacGregor of the Wolfson Institute, Queen Mary University of London, said:  "It is a complete scandal that these drinks are marketed to children and parents as if they are ‘healthy’: this has to stop.  We need to stop Britain’s childhood obesity epidemic spiralling out of control."

Chair of LACA Carrieanne Bishop said “Giving children a nutritionally balanced diet is key not only to their health and wellbeing but also to their educational development. The Government’s new food-based standards should ensure there is a healthy balance of food and drink across school menus, including not giving pupils excess amounts of sugar.”

A table detailing Action on Sugar’s findings can be found here: http://www.actiononsalt.org.uk/actiononsugar/Press%20Release%20/142787.pdf