Public health experts have called for Australian supermarket giants to remove all junk food and soft drinks from their checkouts.

It’s a move Warrnambool mother-of-two Madlina Odhok wholeheartedly supports.

She has had many unpleasant experiences with sons Gunjwok Jack, 8, and Thomas Aluong, 5, at the supermarket.

“It’s annoying – you keep saying no and they keep asking,” Ms Odhok said.

She said it could also be embarrassing, with other shoppers deciding to throw in their two cents about the situation.

The call for the ban on “less healthy” items at checkouts is a recommendation made by the Global Obesity Centre at Deakin University, which has assessed the nutrition policies of Australia’s major supermarkets.

Researchers found supermarkets could be doing much more to encourage healthy eating.

“Unhealthy diets and obesity are leading contributors to poor health in Australia,” lead author Associate Professor Gary Sacks said.

He said a comprehensive response was required to address the issue.

Professor Sacks said government policy and wide-scale action from the food industry, including supermarkets, was needed.

“The end-of-aisle displays are typically filled with unhealthy products, it’s just chocolate and soft drinks at the checkouts; so it’s just really hard to stick to nice healthy basket of food when you are surrounded by all of that.”

The study recommends supermarkets follow the lead of major UK chains and replace the “less healthy” items at checkouts with dried fruit or nuts.