Boris Johnson can’t afford an underpowered obesity campaign – we need to make clear that fat kills

Evidence suggests being overweight increases the risk from coronavirus. This is yet another reason to help as many people as we can, writes Janet Street-Porter

The PM says he has managed to lose weight (Getty)

Boris Johnson says he’s lost “a stone and a bit” and has become an evangelist for the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. A brush with death and a period in intensive care recovering from coronavirus obviously changed his mind – but will his words have any impact?

Yesterday I visited Wroxham in the Norfolk Broads, where it was packed with the broad-arsed stuffing their faces while clutching bags of nutritionally dubious fare. Having a good time on holiday in the UK means eating, the more the better. Plus, we’ve just been released from lockdown, so let’s celebrate we’re still alive with a takeaway! Feasting has even been endorsed by our chancellor handing out vouchers for Nandos and the like. Was that clever, given one in three Brits are obese? Or to be blunt, FAT.

On Monday, Johnson will announce his new health strategy – it’s expected to include a ban on junk food adverts on TV and online before 9pm, as well as plans to stop supermarkets placing sugary and fatty foods near checkouts. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar could also be taxed – at the moment the tax only applies to drinks.

Don’t expect joined up thinking – since the start of the pandemic, Johnson and his team have not demonstrated a coherent strategy in many areas. Instead, they have indulged in grandstanding – big statements and “initiatives” – which, upon close inspection, didn’t work in the long term but gathered a lot of coverage at the outset. From building huge unused hospitals to apps for track and testing to mask wearing, to opening pubs but not nurseries. All of this has left the public reeling from one set of confusing rules to another.

Critics say the government dithered at a crucial moment and lockdown was imposed around 10 days too late. But a new study (published by The Lancet online) from the University of Texas and the University of Toronto questions if it made much difference. Researchers surveyed death rates in 50 countries (on 1 May, when they stood at 33 fatalities from Covid-19 per million, now they are 80) and looked at other factors – known as comorbidities – which could have contributed to death. The results indicate that obesity, age and smoking had a major impact on death rates, and lockdown merely helped hospitals to manage the flow of patients rather than prevent deaths.

The survey has been disputed by Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter from Cambridge University, who said its findings were exaggerated. Earlier this month, Dr Seth Flaxman from Imperial College London claimed that lockdown had saved three million lives across Europe.

Most scientists and doctors agree that anyone obese is more likely to suffer complications and die from Covid-19. That is the stark truth that led Johnson to eat less and exercise and now he wants us to do the same.

Whether lockdown reduced the death rate is hard to evaluate. Who can honestly tell, when we know now that the figures didn’t allow for anyone who contracted the disease early on to have recovered – they just got coronavirus on their death certificate, even if something else was the eventual cause.

We don’t know how many in care homes died from only Covid-19, or from other causes. The figures that are trotted out by officials are pretty meaningless – and the death rate seems to have plateaued at present. Scientists agree that (although Johnson and Hancock talked of “winning” the battle) the disease will be with us for years. There is no “victory” in sight, we need to give a vaccine to as many as possible and quickly. People will continue to die from coronavirus, and now it’s a matter of personal choice and individual risk assessment. Obese people are more at risk, no matter their age.

Turning lardy-arse Britain around won’t be achieved by banning ads, shifting chocolate to a different aisle or a higher shelf. You can’t stop people eating takeaways in front of the telly every night. No, brain washing is required to change deep-seated behaviour.

Remember those seat belt ads featuring horrible crashes and dead babies? They worked. The Aids tombstone ads worked. Sugar needs to be tackled like the class A drug that it is. We need an inspired public health campaign that hits home and states the unpalatable truth – fat kills.

One in five children will continue to be fat until the government takes control of their diet, makes school meals compulsory and funds them. Forget Joe Wicks, physical exercise must be 30 minutes a day every day in school time. Cooking lessons must be mandatory for a year for all primary kids. Getting healthy can be done by using children to teach their parents there’s a better way.

The source of obesity is poverty, and social deprivation. These people are going to be the next Covid-19 victims, and instead of dishing out meal vouchers, Rishi Sunak missed an opportunity to help them.