Boris Johnsons new tactic against Covid-19: urge Britons to lose weight

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left with lawmaker Darren Henry, the Conservative MP for Broxtowe, at the Canal Side Heritage Center in Beeston near Nottingham, England on Tuesday July 28, 2020. The government is launching new intuitive cycling to help get people in shape. (AP Photo / Rui Vieira, swimming pool)

Written by Anna Schaverien

Britain will crack down on junk food advertising and put calorie count on menus in a bid to tackle obesity and ease pressure on the country’s National Health Service amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced on Monday.

For British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the intersection of obesity and the coronavirus is personal. Johnson was, by his own admission, very overweight when he was admitted to hospital after falling ill with COVID-19 this year, and his health deteriorated to such an extent that at one point, he needed intensive care.

Studies have linked obesity to increased risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19, and Johnson writes in UK journal The Daily Express, described her hospital stay as a wake-up call.

We’ve all handed things over that I know I have, Johnson wrote. I have wanted to lose weight for ages, and like many people, I struggle with my weight.

I go up and down, but during the whole coronavirus outbreak and when I had it too, I realized how important it was not to be overweight, he added.

As part of the government’s new obesity strategy, advertisements for any food high in fat, sugar or salt will be banned on television and online until 9 p.m. to avoid the hours when children are at their peak. more likely to see them. There will also be a consultation on whether Britain should ban online junk food advertising entirely.

All major restaurants and cafes will need to add calorie counts to their menus and the government will seek to add calorie labels to alcoholic beverages.

Promotional offers like buying one, getting one free on fatty or sugary foods will also be banned.

Obesity in Britain has long been cited as a growing problem and as a drain for the NHS, and the country generally tops the lists ranking the fattest countries in Europe.

Government statistics show that almost two-thirds of adults in England are overweight or obese. The World Health Organization estimates that about 39% of adults worldwide are overweight and about 13% are obese.

More than 45,000 people in Britain have died from the coronavirus. Nearly 8% of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units are morbidly obese, the UK government said, even though morbidly obese people only make up 2.9% of the general population.

Johnson said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday that he had lost more than 14 pounds since his hospital stay.

The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper, reported that the Prime Minister weighed 245 pounds when he was hospitalized in April. Even with his recent thinness, Johnson, who is around five feet tall, would still be considered obese, according to an NHS calculator, although the PM said he had just started focusing on building the his fitness and weight loss.

The sweeping measures announced on Monday are a change of course for Johnson, who last year described a levy on sugary drinks as stealth taxes on sin and warned of the continued creep of the nanny state.

Professor Parveen Kumar, spokesperson for the British Medical Association, which represents doctors, said in a statement Monday that the strategy could go a long way in starting a health revolution for the nation.

But the measures did not receive such a warm reception from the food industry and retail. Tim Rycroft, chief operating officer of the Food and Drink Federation, a group representing manufacturers in the sector, called the plans a blow to businesses that had been announced by the government for feeding the country during the COVID crisis .

The federation said while supporting governments’ efforts to make Britain healthier, the proposed policies have proven ineffective and would only serve to raise prices.

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