PM: My mission to win war on obesity
AT the height of the pandemic our country came together in a fantastic way. We formed a human shield around our NHS and made small, but difficult sacrifices that helped our amazing doctors and nurses to save thousands of lives, including my own.
But too many of us carry another type of human buffer that far from protecting us, leaves us more vulnerable to illness and more likely to be a burden on our NHS. That’s the layer of fat around our bodies.
We all put things off – I know I have. I’ve wanted to lose weight for ages and like many people I struggle with my weight. I go up and down, but during the whole coronavirus epidemic and when I got it too, I realised how important it is not to be overweight.
The facts are simple: extra weight puts extra pressure on our organs and makes it harder to treat heart disease, cancer and – as we have found – coronavirus.
This was true in my case, and it’s true in many thousands of others.
Choices
It was a wake-up call for me and I want it to be a wake-up call for the whole country.
Until now governments have focused on childhood obesity, but this is a problem for all ages and we can all make small but meaningful changes to protect our health and protect our NHS.
So today we are launching our “Better Health” campaign to show how to lose a bit of weight and keep it off, using a 12-week plan.
But the hardest thing about trying to lose weight is consistency.
We all know how we begin these plans with the best of intentions, summoning every ounce of our resolve – often on January 1st each year – only to find that within a week (or 24 hours?) our determination somehow disappears and we succumb to our old ways.
So the Government will strive to reduce the temptations that lure us away from doing the right thing.
We will end the advertising of beguiling yet fattening, sugary and salty products on TV and online before 9pm. And we will end Buy One Get One Free and similar offers on those same products. Let’s have more promotions for healthy food instead of end-of-aisle inducements. It’s hard to make the healthy choice if you don’t know what’s in the food you are buying.
So we will legislate to require large businesses – including restaurants, cafes and takeaways – to label their foods with the number of calories.
We will consult before the end of the year on providing calorie labelling on alcohol. And we will use one of the powers we have regained by leaving the European Union to see whether our “traffic light” nutritional labelling system could be improved.
In due course, we will also provide more support to anyone with obesity through our GP services and expand our diabetes prevention programme for those at highest risk.
In return for this increased support and more information being available about the food you consume, we need to strike a “new deal” with you, because your health depends on your own choices about how you lead your life.
One of the few good things about the lockdown was that some people – for the first time – planned their day around the physical exercise they were allowed to take.
We need to carry on these good habits by following the new strategy to transform opportunities for people to get on their bikes, or go for a walk and get the pulse racing.
I start the day by going for a run with the dog; it’s gentle but getting faster as I get fitter, and I’ve discovered you actually feel more full of energy if you can get your weight down a little bit.
Becoming healthier isn’t about making a few big changes which lapse. Little changes each day can soon add up.
So let’s summon the same spirit of personal responsibility and collective endeavour that prevailed in the lockdown, to come together once again and make those small changes that can win the battle against obesity.
We’ll protect ourselves and we’ll protect our NHS too.