“Obesity drive will not be bossy or nannying” says Boris Johnson
LONDON, United Kingdom.（News of the South）-The United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has launched the efforts of the government to reduce obesity levels in the UK.
By Antonnate Mugodi
Johnson said that it will be supportive rather than excessively bossy or nannying amid the uncertainty about how effective the plan will prove.
There has been no proposal to extend earlier tax on sugary drinks to other products including foods but new measure that have been put forward include bans on junk food advertising.
The junior health minister Helen Whately on Monday accepted the sugar tax had been successful in prompting manufacturers to reformulate drinks to include less sugar and said that there were no plans to widen it.
There will be, according to the government, a ban on junk food advertising before 9pm and a short launch on the consultation on whether that ban should be extended to a blanket ban on adverts for sweets and fast foods online will be done.
Other measures that were put include a ban on the sale of chocolates, crisps and sweets at checkouts and displaying calories on menus in restaurants.
This also applies for alcoholic drinks which are estimated to account for nearly 10% of the calorie intake of those who drink.
Some people have questioned whether they put too much emphasis on individual responsibilities rather than addressing health inequalities while health campaigners have welcomed the proposal.
Downing Street has put Johnson at the centre of efforts to promote the strategy, which the prime minister decided to push ahead with after concluding his own weight had played a significant role in his serious bout of coronavirus.
No.10 launched the plan on Monday with a social media video of Johnson explaining how he had wanted to lose weight for ages and ages and had been way overweight when he was in intensive care suffering from Covid-19.
The Prime Minister said he now began his day by running with the Downing Street dog, Dilyn:
“The great thing about going for a run at the beginning of the day is nothing could be worse for the rest of the day.”
Boris said that the proposals by the government were only trying to help people a little bit to bring their weight down, not in an excessively bossy or nannying way.
“We want this one to be really sympathetic to people, to understand the difficulties that people face with their weight, the struggles that many, many people face to lose weight, and just to be helpful,” he said.
Whately called obesity a huge health problem with two-thirds of adults overweight or obese when she was questioned on the plan that they had.
Whately said it was a good moment to introduce such a programme:
“Now is a moment in time when many people have changed their lifestyle habits over the coronavirus period, over the lockdown. It’s a moment of reset when people can think again.”
When she was asked about the sugary drink tax unveiled in 2016 Whately said that it had been a huge success.
“We certainly learned from the effectiveness of that particular measures, and as you say, what we saw with the sugary drinks levy is the widespread reformulation of the products.” she said.
Whately, however declined to say why it was not being extended.
Boris is known to be an opponent of what he has in the past called sin taxes.
Asked about that issue Whately said:
“That’s not in the policies that we are setting out today.”
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