The World Health Organisation defines being overweight or obese as “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health”.
Others, who are not as restrained, go so far as to say that fat is a killer. It is certainly cited as a major factor as to whether a patient is destined for life, or death, during this coronavirus pandemic.
And yet we persist with the lie that a fat person is somehow “happy” and “jolly”. Boris Johnson certainly seems to be both of those, or, at least, he was, before he was struck down with Covid-19. Upon entering intensive care, he was 17st 7lb, well above the ideal, healthy range for a man of his height (5ft 9in) of between 8st 13lb and 12st 1lb.
His obesity was a definite factor in the severity of his illness. He is obese because he clearly overeats, or eats too much calorie-loaded junk. Even the relatively innocent-looking stuff such as Haribo’s popular Starmix are loaded with energy – the equivalent of 21 teaspoons of sugar in a 190g bag. TWENTY ONE! Don’t go near those Boris!
We all love food. Especially rubbish food. But bodies can only burn so much of it before turning the unused energy into fat.
If you’re really greedy the fat that isn’t burned off by the energy used in day-to-day life can gather around your waist and, even more dangerously, affect your vital organs. Fatty liver disease is a life-threatening condition caused by a build-up of fat in the liver.
The good news is it can be reversed by eating healthily and keeping off the fizzy drinks.
Not one to hang around after his brush with death, and his enlightenment as to the part obesity played in his illness, Boris is now on a mission.
“It does matter,” he says. “It’s hugely costly for the NHS, it’s a serious national issue.”
The penny, it seems, has well and truly dropped, so much so that the Department of Health is set to propose the introduction of family exercise and healthy eating schemes, as well as access to bariatric surgery, including gastric bands. Just a pity it took our Prime Minister’s dice with death to realise that obesity can kill.
