This country is too fat.
Let’s be real here: this country is on the larger side. No, I’m not talking about our population or our public spending – I’m talking about our waist size.
In the 2018/19 year, according to the NHS, there were 876,000 hospital admissions where obesity was recorded as the primary or secondary diagnosis. This was an increase of 23% on 2017/18. We are a country that is getting fat, it’s only getting worse and it’s not stopping.
This obesity epidemic is worse than people think – 63% of the adults in England are overweight. According to the NHS, even morbid obesity has increased. In 1993, it was less than 1%, but had risen to 3% by 2018. We need to tackle this head-on, as the coronavirus pandemic will have only made things worse.
When we were opening places up, which were the first? The restaurants, not the gyms. What were we subsidising? The restaurants. This government has again failed the people, and has failed to keep this nation healthy. We know that losing weight is key to beating coronavirus. Besides the PM asking for people to go out on a walk, what has this government done? Nothing.
We need to fundamentally change our approach when it comes to fitness. Too long I have heard the “OK at any size” mantra. This is utter rubbish – we know that obesity is on the rise, and just accepting it will do no-one any good, only causing further problems down the line. We need to get physical fitness drilled into us at school, and the importance of this cannot be overstated.
This country has never been fatter, and we need to stop celebrating that. Body positivity can only go so far – of course, we should not bully people about their bodies, which would be unacceptable. But on the other hand, we should actively push for people to be physically fit whenever possible. Let us encourage people to be their best selves. Let us encourage people to be fit and healthy, not let them fall by the wayside.
Let’s get people to the gyms – let’s get this country up and running again, literally.
