Face masks, social distancing and self hygiene are some of the ways of resisting Coronavirus. Adding to the list is weight loss, which has been endorsed by none other than UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The United Kingdom people have been asked to lessen their waistline to keep safe from Covid – 19.
Boris Johnson, citing his own struggle with overweight body against Coronaviruis, has also urged the people to reduce weight. Junior Health Minister Helen Whately was quoted as saying that British people should eat less to lose weight. Obesity increases the risk of dying from coronavirus, Whately said.
As part of its measures in encouraging people to stay fit, the government has now introduced several measures such as banning TV and online advertisements for junk food before 9.00 p.m., ending “buy one get one free” deals on such foods, displaying calorie content on menus and on alcohol.
According to Public Health England, about 60 per cent of the adults in Britain are overweight. Now the coronavirus crisis has put overweight issue at the forefront of the government’s thinking and has come up with the strict measures. The government also would add weight management services in the NHS. The measures are part of 10 million pound Health England campaign named ‘Better Health. This is aimed at getting people fitter after four months of lockdown.
Stating that obesity was “a time bomb”, the government said that it wanted to urgently to tackle the issue as official statistics showed that about 8 per cent of critically ill patients with Covid-19 in intensive care units have been morbidly obese compared with 2.9 per cent of the general population.
