UK PM Boris Johnson launches anti-obesity campaign amid pandemic

As a part of the country’s pandemic response, UK has decided to launch a campaign against obesity. As per reports, the UK government has cited research claiming that people who are ‘overweight’ are at a higher risk of being negatively affected by COVID-19 virus.

'I was too Fat'

As per reports, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed that he was ‘overweight’ back in April when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. In a response to a recent paper by England’s public health body which has provided ‘consistent evidence’ linking a higher risk of infection, hospitalization, and death to obesity, the UK government has decided to launch a campaign against obesity in its efforts to beat the deadly virus.

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According to reports, the paper claimed that at least two-thirds of the people in Britain were overweight while half of those could be considered ‘obese’. In a recent Twitter post that launched the campaign, Boris Johnson stated that he was ‘just too fat’ during the time he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Since being released from the hospital he has said that he has started going on daily runs with his dogs and has really tried to lose weight. He revealed that he has already lost 14 pounds since being released from the hospital.

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The UK government has stated that reducing the rates of ‘obesity’ in England will also help with a number of other health issues such as heart disease and cancer, this would also lessen the strain on the country’s National Health Service (NHS) greatly. Some of the measures considered by the government for the campaign are, banning the advertisement of junk food on the television before 9 pm and introduction of the legislature that would require restaurants to write the calorie count of dishes next to meals.

In the recent video, Johnson has said that he hopes the campaign will help some people bring their weight down as according to the paper if all Britishers lost just 5.5 pounds they would save the NHS $135 million by 2025. Johnson’s ‘obesity’ campaign came as a shock to many as before being elected UK PM, Johnson was highly critical of the health policies of previous governments.