Ontario doctors has said higher taxes are needed on junk food and graphic labels on packaging to fight obesity, the same tools that snuffed out high smoking rates in the province.

Ontario Medial Association President Dr. Doug Weir said obesity among Canadian kids has ballooned from 18 per cent in the 1980′s to over 31 per cent today, mainly because of poor food choices.

“Nothing is more heart-breaking than to see kids debilitated, even disabled by a condition that in most cases didn’t have to happen,” he told a news conference Tuesday at OMA offices in Yorkville.

Weir said tax hikes were key in convincing people to stop smoking, so making junk food more expensive is bound to make it less palatable.

“The evidence is that the number one initiative that affected smoking rates was taxation,” he said.

The OMA also wants graphic warning labels placed on junk food similar to cigarette packaging so parents realize what they are feeding their kids and the potential health implications.

Other recommended initiatives include restricting the marketting of fatty or sugary foods to children and pulling sugary, low-nutrition food from snackbars at sports or recreational centres frequented by children.

Treating obesity-related diabetes and cancers costs Ontario’s healthcare system nearly $2.5-billion annually.

Food and Consumer Products of Canada, the largest industry association representing companies that manufacture and distribute food, beverage and consumer goods to grocery stores has been quick to criticize the OMA recommendations.

“Let’s be very clear – food is not tobacco. Tobacco has no place in a healthy, balanced lifestyle. A tax on food and beverages is nothing but a tax grab that will hurt lower and middle income Ontarians the most,” FCPC vice president Phyllis Tanaka said in a statement.

She added food and beverage taxes have been tried in 18 states in the U.S. and suggests there is little to no evidence taxing food and beverages results in people making healthier food choices.

The Canadian Beverage Association calls increased taxation “misguided” and says educating people on food and beverage choices will help them make choices that are most appropriate for themselves and their families.

“We believe one of the keys to impacting obesity lies in education and information rather than through the taxation or restriction of certain foods and beverages,” said Jim Goetz, president of the Canadian Beverage Association.