Prime Minister Boris Johnson is tackling the nationwide problem of obesity by encouraging people to eat healthier and exercise more, especially during this pandemic. Exercise programs and cookery classes are just the beginning of the proposals in preventing child obesity to development into adulthood.
Putting the nation on a diet comes at a time that the UK is trying to control the potential arrival of a second wave of coronavirus as lockdown will be lifted by this week. Mr. Johnsons is currently on his own weight loss and fitness journey after getting ill at the beginning of the country's lockdown.
Department for Health and Social Care have recently presented a few proposals advocating family fitness schemes and advice on healthy eating. For more extreme cases, there may even be an increase of surgeries including fitting gastric bands.
Gastric banding is a surgical procedure specifically for treating obesity. The patient's stomach is constricted in the surgery, resulting in feeling full after eating less portions of food than before.
To help with weight loss, and adjustable silicone band is placed on the upper part of the stomach to help control the amount of food consumed. This treatment is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is easily reversible, and does not alter the body's digestion.
Nationwide Diet
The health department said, 'All the focus and energy is going to be on getting the nation fitter because, as the coronavirus has shown us, it will save lives. People have gone to extraordinary lengths to remain safe, including staying at home for the past 12 weeks, so encouraging them to eat more healthily and take more exercise should not be that difficult.'
'This is clearly our moment because if people want to do their bit to beat this virus then losing weight would be the best thing they can do.' There might also be a ban on fast food's buy one, get one free offers, a mandate for all food services to have calorie labelling, and more outdoor gyms to be set up.
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Major Risk Factors
Dr. Aseem Malhorta shared, 'the elephant in the room is that the baseline general health in many Western populations was already in a horrendous state to begin with. In the UK and US, more than 60 per cent of adults are overweight or obese.' COVID-19 deaths have been associated with the major risk factors of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and heart disease.
These factors are rooted in excess body fat, explained Dr. Malhorta, which collectively result in metabolic syndrome. Soon, whole foods such as fruits and vegetables will be replacing refined carbohydrates as experts recommend the removal of processed food.
Minister Priti Patel said, 'It's an important plan ... As we move out of this awful, awful period of coronavirus, this dreadful disease, we want to get Britain moving again.' The nation's road to recovery includes improving infrastructure to help generate new jobs and provide services, improve economic growth, as well as making the nation more healthy.
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