No 10 wants people to lose weight before the second wave

[Redolent]

What could possibly go wrong with encouraging people to go on a quick crash diet??

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As well as longer-term proposals to reduce the incidence of obesity, government officials are having urgent discussions about how to persuade people to lose weight in the next few months, before an anticipated resurgence in coronavirus cases in the autumn.

In England, 64% of adults are classed as overweight or obese and 29% as obese as measured by BMI, among the highest levels in Europe.

One official involved in the emergency planning said the government was alarmed at the possible death toll from a second wave. A programme is expected imminently, possibly within 10 days, based on encouraging people to reduce their calorific intake and lose weight rapidly.

@dairyfairies

I wonder how they plan to help with this?

we are the fattest in Europe. What is wrong with taking a bit of responsibility for your overweight body?

Eat less, move more. Losing weight is not rocket science. What exactly do you need help with?

I agree. Why does anyone need the government's help to lose weight? Unless a person's weight gain is due to mental or physical illness and they're not getting the care they need, then we cannot blame the government. It's personal responsibility.

@itsthefinalcountdown

I’m 20 stone 4, was 22 stone 10 on NYD . Generally lost weight through moving and eating less and more carefully . Not very easy though, and panic buying was a huge trigger and showed me how many problems I have with food in general .

The trouble is if you have a disorder that can cause weight retention or gain - thyroid issues, PCOS, mental health - there’s very, very little help out there .

I’ve been fat since I was 6 years old, I know why and I know how to change it but it’s been very hard to do that entirely alone . You don’t get any help from anyone, it’s not like quitting smoking or something . The NHS don’t care and funnily enough, neither do my family . So you feel very alone, and increasingly isolated from a society that’s almost encouraged to ostracise you, and ashamed and angry with yourself - which isn’t at all conducive to wanting to take care of yourself . I remember being 11 and seriously considering trying to cut the fat off myself as I didn’t want to be laughed at any more .

Plus our society places so much on bloody food; Easter with chocolate, Christmas with everything in sight, BBQs and picnics in summer, sweets as a treat for children, chocolate if you’re feeling sad ... it’s a shame we don’t treat exercise in the same way !!

I could have written this myself @itsthefinalcountdown. I remember having exactly those thoughts at that age.

I have been trying to lose weight - lost a stone last year but then plateaued. Lost another 9lbs in lockdown. Still a huge way to go though for me. I am scared of COVID and of shortening my life in general and I am an intelligent woman so I understand the basic but weight has always been an emotional and physical struggle for me.

If the government want to offer any incentives and encouragement then I think that would help many people and save the NHS money in the long term. Shame generally doesn't work as it feeds (ha) the emotional response that drives many people to overeat.

I don’t need help lol!!

I was in training for my third London Marathon when lockdown happened 😂

But others (here on MN) have had long running threads....on weight loss and how hard they find it,disabilities etc

At least I’m acknowledging it’s not that simple for SOME people. Try telling THEM to eat less/move more when they struggle already with various problems.

Apologies. Here’s the link

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/11/no-10-plans-weight-loss-drive-to-ready-uk-for-expected-covid-19-second-wave

Most of the people who died were obese though, it’s a huge risk factor. Yes, I do think people should take responsibility for their health and well being. Obesity also increases your cancer risk. Crash diets don’t work but eating sensibly and reducing your intake does. Patients always say, oh I hardly eat anything but I just can’t lost weight-rubbish. If you eat less you lose weight. Research has shown that activity ie running etc does not have a massive impact on weight-eating less does🤷‍♀️

And I’m glad Boris is opening the gyms soon , not that I’m a fan myself

But please can we have our marathons,half’s and 10k races back, oh, and park run?

But others (here on MN) have had long running threads....on weight loss and how hard they find it,disabilities etc

there will be always people with disabilities and certain health conditions where weight is an issue. Nobody is debating this.

However, with 2/3 of the adult population in the overweight range, for the overwhelming majority, this is self-made without an illness to blame.

Yes I saw the article op hence my post asking if he’s going to start a gov.uk slimming world style group ( as they alude to doing something

Boris looks like he could do with losing a few pounds too actually
It's precisely because he knows that his being obese contributed significantly to the severity of his illness, that he wants those more at-risk of death from Covid-19 to lose weight.

He lost weight in ICU and has continued to lose weight and exercise so it isn't as if he's not putting his money where his mouth is.

Everyone is capable of making their own choices but there are helpful things that good leadership could do. I think the culture of talking an ‘exercise walk’ each day was really a positive cultural change, if only temporary. The gov shouldn’t have to provide people with diet plans but can encourage a culture that values moderate daily activity and healthy choices. More investment in recreational spaces - outdoor swimming, cycle paths, green spaces in cities would be great.

The running races will be back in August but I don't think parkrun will be until the restrictions have lifted further (they say they don't want the volunteers to have too much extra to do and they don't want to, for example, ask people to book in advance).

Having looked at the guidelines for opening of gyms etc which includes "outdoor participation activity events" there is very little written about how to go about making these races Covid secure so Run Britain are going to have to make something up as far as I can tell. Link here to their statement: www.runbritain.com/covid-19-uk-road-race-guidance

It does look as though slimming groups could open again but they would need to limit numbers which would mean less people could do it. I haven't seen any announcements from Slimming World which I think we would see if it was in any way imminent.

I think the government should maybe campaign with taxes and advertising bans on snacks and sweet food. If everyone stopped eating those or even just had less then it would help so much with the obesity problem and the government could do this like they have with cigarettes.

Oh come on! We have a terrible obesity crisis in this country and we DO need to take responsibility for ourselves. I have always been slim but during lockdown I've been wearing a path to the fridge. No one is forcing me to eat cheesecake and full size bars of aeros every day and I'm trying to cut these out. Its bloody easy to put weight on and less so to lose it but its my problem and it does need tackling.

@profpoopsnagle you don't need a gym to be open for all-over exercise. There are hundreds of classes you can follow online at home. You can purchase a set of weights and toning bands, go running, ride a bike.

For those looking to assistance with losing weight from the government- not sure what you are expecting but 12 week free membership to slimming world or weight watchers has been available through GPs for years.

It would be interesting to see how this and covid-19 has impacted on the body positivity movement, pre covid, would have been touted as fat shaming?

Crash diets absolutely don't work. I went on one before I fell pregnant with DS so I could fall pregnant with DS. I lost quite a lot of weight but piled most of it back on while pregnant. I've managed to loose a little weight while in lockdown. Not much. There's a very good based culture both in my family and in the UK. We celebrate with food, we make ourselves feel better with food.
The only thing that has made me evaluate this is the weaning DS. It made me confront the emotional attachments I have with food and realise I don't want the same for him. So no it's not always as simple as "eat less". I certainly had to have a good look at myself to figure out the causes for my overeating so I could address them long term. I'm not there yet but at least I'm working on it.

@WorraLiberty - my sentiments exactly.

To the posters who say eating out will make losing weight hard .. you can easily make healthy choices from the menu .

The comment about the government wanting us to have lattes and croissants 🥐 was ridiculous.
I’m certain we are allowed to choose healthier things to eat

I'm already doing this. I didn't realise quite how bad things were for the obese until I read a study 6 weeks ago. I do think they could have been more honest & open with the public about this much earlier than now.

I'm a stone down and continuing to drastically cut calories (1500 a day below my TDEE). I'm also genuinely terrified to send my son back to school and rejoin society myself in September. He's 7. I need to survive this.

If the government suggest an even harder line on caloric deficit I'll take it.

Rationing on the way in time for winter and Brexit perhaps?

Crash diets absolutely don't work. I went on one before I fell pregnant with DS so I could fall pregnant with DS. I lost quite a lot of weight but piled most of it back on while pregnant. I've managed to loose a little weight while in lockdown. Not much. There's a very good based culture both in my family and in the UK. We celebrate with food, we make ourselves feel better with food.

So the crash diet did work then because you lost quite a lot of weight.

You can't blame the diet for the food based culture in your family and in the UK.

There are food based cultures all over the world but again personal responsibility is what comes into play.

Hopefully the threat of a second wave will stop people whose diets have worked, piling the weight back on themselves.

I eat out a lot but I'm not overweight. Now our favourite cafe is open again, my friends and I will increase the length of our Sunday bike ride.

So op, you’re basically focused on the word ‘rapidly’ in that article, which didn’t even form part of an official quote from the government.

Obesity and being overweight have been shown to be significant risk factors, and are perhaps an easier one to try and do something about in the short term than some of the others.

Posting negatively about a government drive to get people eating more healthily and losing some weight seems slightly ridiculous to me. Especially as we haven’t even seen what this project will entail.

The government need to allow gyms to reopen.
I agree with PP about people taking more responsibility for their own health.
If they did then I would like to think that people then with conditions could get more help before bigger problems.

[quote Redolent]Apologies. Here’s the link

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jul/11/no-10-plans-weight-loss-drive-to-ready-uk-for-expected-covid-19-second-wave[/quote]
I just came back here to post the link.

remove the sweets and chocolates from the supermarkets!

They want us to lose weight but they prioritise pubs and restaurants over gyms
They encourage us to get on our bikes but there is no where to cycle safely
they put us into impossible situations where we are set up to fail 😕

i dont think gyms should necessarily be reopened, perhaps outdoor gyms, but most gym users are not overweight in the first place!