Boris Johnson blames Church of England for obesity crisis

Boris Johnson has blamed the Church of England for Britain's obesity crisis, saying its failure to provide people with the spiritual nourishment they need is leading them to binge.

The former prime minister said that when he was younger, it was very rare for there to be a fat person in the class. Now, they're all fat, and I'd be shot for saying they were fat, but it's the truth.

He criticized Archbishop Justin Welby and other religious leaders for talking about reparations related to slavery rather than meeting people's spiritual needs.

Johnson, pictured while running last year, spoke about his experience in intensive care during the pandemic

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Johnson said this is leading to a decline in church attendance. The living bread is supplied by Tesco, he said. And they gorge themselves on real living bread.

Johnson was one of three former prime ministers interviewed as part of a report by Henry Dimbleby, businessman and author of the National Food Strategyand Dolly Van Tulleken, public health expert.

They were joined by ten former health secretaries who admitted they did not do enough to tackle obesity while in power. They urged Sir Keir Starmer to take tougher action to tackle the rising rate of diet-related health problems.

Johnson said higher levels of obesity among children were due to being told there were pedophiles everywhere.

He said: When I was a kid, we all played in the street all the time. You don't see that with kids these days. Now they're all fat, and I'd get shot for saying they're fat, but it's the truth.

People were skinnier, they ran a ton, they drank huge amounts of Tizer, they ate Spangles and Curly Wurlies and dog shit, but they expended a lot more energy and these days kids are sitting in front of screens and being told that it's too much. dangerous to go out because there are pedophiles everywhere apparently.

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There is too much risk aversion [aversion] about what children can do to avoid exercising.

He said older people have become quite sedentary because of technology, adding that instead of the Archbishop of Canterbury talking about slavery reparations, he should be asking why people in this country are so fat .

Johnson and his wife Carrie at St. Paul's Cathedral in 2022

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Johnson said: The Archbishop of Canterbury and religious leaders should try to fill what is clearly a painful spiritual void in people's lives, which is causing them to binge.

Religious leaders, as well as politicians, wonder why people obviously seek comfort in something they know is self-destructive.

And when was the last time you heard the Archbishop of Canterbury preach a sermon on this subject?

You know, there he's humming about how we're all guilty and how we all need to be more left-wing.

Johnson recounted a recent visit to church with his family. I went to church yesterday, I was one of about ten people. Well, I mean 15 if you add up my family. It was about the fact that rich men can't go through the eye of a needle, that kind of pot.

Why don't people go to church? Because it doesn't really meet people's spiritual needs. Something happens to people, they need something, they eat it, they don't get it.

Boris Johnson aged around 4

You talk about the living bread of spiritual sustenance, well, it's not provided by the thriving church, I can tell you that. The living bread is supplied by Tesco and they gorge themselves on the real living bread, that's what they do.

Johnson also tried to strengthen his government's obesity policy after nearly dying from coronavirus. He said: It received particular impetus after Covid because one of my first obsessions [was] that we have very high levels of morbidity due to obesity.

Covid was hitting Britain particularly hard because we were so big and I had my own experience in intensive care. I noticed that they were all middle-aged and fairly large men, much like me, and I came away from this screaming thought, we need to fix this.

Johnson conducted his interview before Welby announced he was resigning as Archbishop of Canterbury over his handling of one of the worst abuse scandals in the Church. He clashed several times with Welby when he was in power as well as during the Brexit campaign.