PM Johnson uses own struggles with weight to urge Britain to get fit

London (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Britain to lose “a little bit of weight” on Monday, using his own struggle with his weight before he contracted the novel coronavirus to encourage people to take more exercise.

His government unveiled a “Better Health” campaign on Monday, saying it would tackle the “obesity time bomb” by banning advertising of junk food before 9.00 p.m., ending “buy one get one free” deals and putting calories on menus.

“I’ve always wanted to lose weight for ages and ages and like many people I struggle with my weight, I go up and down. But since I recovered from coronavirus I have been steadily building up my fitness,” he said in a video clip on Twitter.

“I’m at least a stone down, I’m more than a stone down but when I went into ICU (intensive care) when I was really ill, I was way over weight … and, you know, I was too fat,” he said, adding that he hoped the new campaign was not “excessively bossy or nannying”.