Boris Johnson’s latest strategy to fight coronavirus aims to make Britain healthier – but campaigners are worried about the impact the policy will have on people living with eating disorders.
Johnson’s government launched its Better Health strategy in an effort to combat the country’s high obesity levels amid the pandemic.
Britain has one of the highest rates of obesity worldwide, with nearly one in three adults classed as obese, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In England, 11,117 hospital admissions were attributed to obesity in the year 2018-2019. That data is particularly worrying for officials in light of the pandemic.
Being obese or heavily overweight increases the risk of death from Covid-19, according to Public Health England. The UK government believes 63% of adults are above what would be considered a healthy weight.
The new measures include a ban on junk food advertisements before 9 p.m., tools to help people lose weight and a proposal requiring restaurants to show how many calories their dishes contain.
As part of the strategy, Johnson has spoken about his own weight loss in strikingly personal terms. The British Prime Minister was infected with coronavirus earlier this year and was admitted to ICU in April, at the height of the UK’s lockdown.
Johnson has said that he was “way overweight” at the time of his illness. “I was too fat,” he said in a video posted to his Twitter account on Monday.
“I’ve always wanted to lose weight for ages and ages,” Johnson added. “And like […] many people, I struggle with my weight.”
In the clip, the British leader also suggested that people losing weight could protect Britain’s venerated National Health Service (NHS).
“If you can get your weight down a bit […] and protect your health, you’ll also be protecting the NHS,” he said.