Chef challenge to Boris on UK obesity battle
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JAMIE Oliver wants PM Boris Johnson implement his “oven-ready” obesity plan get the nation fit.
The celebrity chef says he has the secret ingredients to rid Britain of its excess weight, including banning “buyone, get-one-free” deals on junk food and imposing a 9pm watershed on advertising unhealthy products.
He also wants supermarket frozen aisles to look more appealing and lockdown tax cuts to be made permanent for restaurants selling healthy foods.
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The Naked Chef, 45, who has been campaigning on child obesity for two decades, said he is a “real believer” in frozen food as a cheap, nutritious option.
Dad-of-five Jamie said: “This gives Boris a massive opportunity to change the health trajectory of millions of kids.
“To use Boris’s own words, the policies are ‘oven-ready,’ so let’s get on with it and put child health at the heart of the Government’s strategy.”
He said lockdown had seen stressed youngsters snacking more and added: “Unfortunately it’s kids to to from less advantaged backgrounds who seem to get less of the benefits and more of the downsides.”
Jamie said footballer Marcus Rashford had “smashed it into the back of the net” with his campaign for free school meals.
He also claimed getting Britain trim would help boost the economy.
Jamie wants business rates to stay at zero for those providing healthy food, as well as new VAT cuts on healthy meals served in restaurants.
Three in 10 reception class children are now either obese or overweight in parts of Britain, according to NHS statistics.
Johnson has hinted at new measures to tackle obesity but said the “arguments need to be gone through” on tax.