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Home » Lose Weight Safely » Boris Johnsons drive to cut obesity rates largely ineffective – The Guardian

Boris Johnsons appeal to Britons to slim down in response to the pandemic has not helped most people lose weight, according to new research calling for a far more wide-ranging response to the obesity crisis.

Warnings about the potential added risks Covid-19 poses to people with obesity are largely ineffective, the study found. It said ministers placed too much emphasis on individual willpower and not enough on the environmental and economic aspects of obesity.

A Social Market Foundation (SMF) study said bigger obstacles needed to be tackled, such as food deserts areas of more than a million people where poverty, poor transport and a lack of large supermarkets limit access to cheap fruit and vegetables.

A survey conducted for SMF found that only 28% of people who describe themselves as living with obesity said they were taking steps to lose weight because of the pandemic.

The thinktank found that while this was higher than the 20% of the general population taking steps to lose weight, it still indicates that government messages on overweight and Covid have done little to help people with obesity address their condition.

Meanwhile, 37% of those living with obesity report they have not yet taken steps to lose weight, but are thinking about doing so. Almost three in 10 (28%) reported the Covid crisis would not lead them to lose weight.

There is now a clear link between obesity and the risk of a severe response to Covid. It increases the risk of dying from the disease by nearly 50% and may make vaccines less effective, according to a study by the University of North Carolina, the Saudi Health Council and the World Bank. Nearly a third (27%) of people with obesity surveyed in the SMF/Opinium poll, said their diet had deteriorated in the pandemic, and 31% said it had led them to do less exercise.

Johnson, who launched the anti-obesity strategy this summer, was said to have become passionate about the issue after his severe bout of Covid. The strategy includes advertisements across all media, and plans are being drawn up to ban online junk food ads the toughest digital marketing restrictions in the world. . However, the National Audit Office has warned that the government will not, as planned, halve childhood obesity in England by 2030.

SMF said there was no mention of the strategy in last months public spending review, and criticised a lack of clarity around who will take it forward after the abolition of Public Health England. Scott Corfe, SMFs research director, said the governments warnings about Covid risks and obesity were well-meaning but largely ineffective.

Corfe added: The idea that obesity is purely a matter of individual choice and willpower is temptingly simple but the facts are more complicated. Low incomes, poor transport, a lack of green spaces and safe streets, mental health problems these are all factors that make it harder for people to lose weight, and obesity policies need to take more account of that.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: The urgency of tackling obesity has been brought to the fore by evidence of the link to an increased risk from Covid-19 and we recently launched a world leading strategy to help reduce obesity rates and help everyone live healthier lives.

The government has already taken significant action cutting sugar from half of drinks on sale, restricting unhealthy food adverts on TV before 9pm and we are consulting on how we could go further and introduce a total online ban. We will say more on plans to expand weight management services shortly.

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Boris Johnsons drive to cut obesity rates largely ineffective - The Guardian

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Home » Lose Weight Safely » Boris Johnsons drive to cut obesity rates largely ineffective – The Guardian