Matt Hancock is promising a new war on obesity after shocking figures showed a link to COVID-19 deaths. A third of all people who have died from coronavirus in UK hospitals have been diabetic, with most having Type 2 – which is usually fuelled by fat. The findings have prompted the Health Secretary to pledge an all-out assault on the public health crisis.
He said: “We are determined to tackle the problem of obesity, and I am looking very closely at evidence it can worsen the effects of coronavirus. “I’m convinced we need to reverse obesity rates to make our NHS fit for the future, and I look forward to working with the Prime Minister to meet our goal.” Mr Hancock’s vow comes after Boris Johnson’s stint in intensive care with the virus triggered people to claim his weight could have been a factor.
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Health campaigners are now demanding a public inquiry into Britain’s fatal obsession with junk food and sugar.
NHS cardiologist and anti-sugar campaigner Dr Aseem Malhotra said: “Thousands of people have likely unnecessarily died prematurely from COVID-19, despite years of warnings from doctors to introduce policies to curb obesity and improve healthy eating.
“This needs to be fully investigated with an urgent public inquiry as to why it was allowed to happen.”
NHS England research shows that 7,466 people who died in hospital with COVID-19 also had Type 2 diabetes, while 365 victims had Type 1.
The cause for Type 1 is not properly understood but is believed to be genetic.
It is not linked to lifestyle factors like diet and exercise.
Type 2 could be partly genetic but is mainly due to excess body weight and physical inactivity.
In both types, the body cannot maintain healthy blood glucose levels.
NHS England found that even when all other factors were taken into account, higher blood glucose levels and obesity were linked to greater risk of dying from coronavirus.
Dr Malhotra wants this to be a watershed moment in Britain’s approach to fighting expanding waistlines.
He said: “I’m not against people indulging in occasional treats but evidence reveals half of our diet comes from ultraprocessed junk.
“The greatest threat to sustainability of the NHS is the obesity crisis, so if we want to fix healthcare, we need to fix the food we eat.
“Evidence suggests tackling ultra-processed food would have a substantial impact on reducing the burden of chronic metabolic diseases [including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke] that are crippling our health service.
“There’s no better time to start a public health revolution.”
Almost four million people have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the UK, with the number set to rocket to 5.5 million by 2030.
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It costs the NHS £14billion a year – £1million every hour – and can cause blindness, amputations, heart disease and kidney failure.
At least another million people have the disease but don’t realise.
A further 12.5 million are at risk because of unhealthy lifestyles.
Being overweight makes it harder for the diaphragm and lungs to expand, reducing oxygen supply to vital organs.
This could be why COVID-19, which is a respiratory disease, hits Type 2 diabetics particularly hard.
Obesity also makes immune systems less able to deal with new attacks by bugs.
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Campaigners said a central problem was decades-long confusion over public health messages on which foods are best.
Dr Malhotra’s diet promotes vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, dairy and plenty of protein from pulses, fish, meat, and eggs.
In a letter to the Health Secretary, who lost 2st by following his diet, Dr Malhotra said it was “irrefutable that metabolic disease is a leading cause of mortality from COVID-19”.
Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, said: “Obesity and poor diet is emerging as one of the biggest risk factors for a severe response to COVID-19 infection that can no longer be ignored.”
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