Obese or very overweight increases the risk of Covid-19 death, according to Public Health England. The UK government believes that 63% of adults are above what would be considered a healthy weight.
The new measures include a 9-hour ban on junk food ads, tools to help people lose weight and a proposal that requires restaurants to see how many calories their dishes contain.
Johnson said he was ‘too overweight’ at the time of his illness. “I was too fat,” he said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Monday.
“I have always and for years wanted to lose weight,” Johnson added. “And like […] a lot of people, I wrestle with my weight. ”
In the clip, the British leader also suggested that people who lose weight could protect Britain’s impoverished National Health Service (NHS).
“If you can lower your weight a little bit […] and protect your health, you will protect the NHS as well, “he said.
The strategy is a major shift for a leader known for his dislike of the “nanny state.” Johnson has in the past opposed similar initiatives by previous governments.
The prime minister’s spokesman said Johnson’s personal experience had not shaped the policy, but added that the pandemic had “marked the increased risks for the nation not to tackle obesity.”
The government hopes that its campaign will encourage those who are overweight to lose about 2.5 kg [5.5 pounds], claiming that such an outcome would provide £ 105 million [$135m] in NHS savings over the next five years.
But the new strategy has caused unrest among campaigners and people suffering from eating disorders. Of particular concern is the proposal to make some restaurants list the number of calories in dishes.
Eve Bennett, 20, has spent part of her teenage years struggling with counting calories. “When I was 14 or 15, I started using an app to track my calories [intake], “the student told CNN.
“I got very obsessed with calorie counting and I would try to beat myself up every day [by eating less than the day before] and I did not eat enough. “
Bennett has finally stopped using the app, but is not happy with the proposed calorie listing. “If you’ve been that way […] you find yourself hyper-conscious of calories, which is why I find the idea of calories on menus so appalling, “she said.
“Eating disorders are a massive problem in this country,” Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, who chairs the All-Party parliamentary group on eating disorders, told CNN.
“Restaurants are revealing the calorie continent of a meal – that can be very detrimental to people in recovery.”
Beat spokesman Tom Quinn agrees. Quinn is critical of the language used in the Better Health campaign as the measure of calorie counting.
“We are very concerned that this will have a detrimental effect on people with if they are at risk of developing an egg white,” he told CNN.
“We’re already starting to hear from people who are very worried, […] who think that these measures will increase their eating disorderly behaviors. “
Quinn told CNN that Beat welcomed some of the new policies, including the government’s planned expansion of NHS weight management services.
Beat also has no opposition to banning junk food ads for 9 hours, the time kids are likely to see them.
The ban restricts advertisements of foods high in fat, sugar or salt on television and online. The government will also hold a consultation on accepting online advertisements in full. But despite the high-profile campaign, the restriction is not expected to take place until 2022.
And while government ministers are campaigning for the new policy package, the ban on junk food advertising follows the launch of the UK’s Eat Out to Help Out plan.
That scheme is designed to help the troubled restaurant sector, including the same fast food outlets that are penalizing the ban.
Quinn is critical of how Johnson has linked the NHS to weight loss.
“Some of the language is pretty stigmatizing,” he said. “[There’s an] implication that people with obesity cost the NHS money and harm other people. Losing weight to save lives has the implication that it will cost you your life if you do not. [lose weight], “he added.
“There’s a sense of focus on the individual.” Quinn said the strategy did not focus enough on the broader social factors that contribute to obesity.
Hope Virgo, a campaigner who lived with anorexia as a child, has launched a petition to persuade ministers to reverse the calorie-reduction measure.
“Seeing the government’s strategy was very, very difficult,” she told CNN. “If I’m in a [restaurant with a] menu and there were calories [listed] left, right and center I would find it really annoying. “
Virgo praised the £ 2 billion ($ 2.6 billion) cycling strategy, which aims to help people become more active and was launched shortly after the Better Health policy. New bicycle routes and voucher for bicycle repair are part of the policy.
“Cycling and walking play an enormous role in addressing some of the health and environmental challenges we face,” Johnson said on Twitter.
“I love the fact that they stimulate movement,” Virgo said. “And that we are encouraged to exercise – they need to do that instead of scaring people and this fear of gaining weight.”
Virgo added: “My big concern is [that] they take a very one size fits all approach. For people with bulimia as [who] binge eat, [calorie listing] could aggravate their disease. “
Liberal Democrat Hobhouse believes the strategy ignores the deeper-rooted causes of obesity in the UK.
“The reasons for our obesity have caused very deep structural problems,” she said. “I understand it to be more of a socio-economic problem. It’s a question of budgets for households.”
“The problem is that [in] poverty you have no choice. [Some people] have no pots and pans and do not know how to make a healthy meal. “
She added: “[The strategy] may help some communities and some people, but it will pass by people for whom [healthy eating] is not an easy choice. “
“With more than six in 10 adults and more than one in three children aged 10-11 years overweight or obese, we need to ensure that people are provided with the knowledge to make decisions about their diet,” a government source said.
The source added that officials “recognize concerns about calorie labeling and aim to find a careful balance between informing and educating people to make healthier choices, while not having a negative impact on people with eating disorders or those recovering from eating disorders. . “
Aleesha Khaliq and Luke McGee from CNN contributed to this story.
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