Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour conference in Brighton, Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Adolescent Children's Trust, said legislation banning the practice would reap long-term rewards.
Williams argued a change in the law would lead to a change in attitudes towards children and the use of violence on them.
"It would be a way of changing the way we think about our children, our neighbours and our community," he said at a meeting titled Children at Risk - What Should be the Role of the State in Family Life?
"If we were to ban smacking we would save 50 children a year who die at the hands of their parents."
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