Fat-fighter Boris Johnson declares war on obesity in UK
- UK has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world: nearly one in three adults are obese
- Coronavirus crisis has persuaded prime minister that obesity is a major health issue
Boris Johnson made an uncharacteristic apology on Monday; he confessed that in the past he had taken a too “libertarian” attitude to obesity and the government’s role in preventing it and vowed to wage a national war on fat.
Weighing more than 110kg when he was admitted to hospital two months ago, Johnson blamed his susceptibility to the virus on his own poor body mass index score.
In an interview with The Daily Mail the former journalist gave a photo opportunity by doing a press-ups, to show he was “as fit as a butcher’s dog” and personally serious about getting in shape.
“Everybody knows that this is a tough one, but I think it’s something we all need to address,” he said in a radio interview Monday. “I think that we certainly must have a care for the health of our population and we will be happier and fitter and more resistant to diseases like Covid if we can tackle obesity.”
