Obesity 'increases risk of being hospitalised' with COVID-19
Public Health England is launching a new healthy living campaign after it has found that severely obese Covid patients are more likely to be hospitalised.
One study suggests that for people with a BMI of 35 to 40, risk of death from Covid-19 increases by 40% and with a BMI over 40 by 90%, compared to those not living with obesity.
Helen from Bristol has lost 7 stone. She says at her heaviest she was 18 stone and struggled to breathe during some of the most mundane tasks.
She's now urging others who may be overweight to get fit and healthy to better protect themselves through the pandemic.
According to a report by Public Health England, being obese or excessively overweight increases the risk of severe illness and death from Covid-19. It suggests that being severely overweight puts people at greater risk of hospitalisation, or being taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
TV medic Dr Dawn Harper says it could be because coronavirus is an inflammatory disease.
The government is now launching a new campaign called the 'Better Health' campaign to help people lose weight. The move comes after Boris Johnson revealed his own brush with Covid-19, which saw him require intensive care in April, and it convinced him of the need to tackle Britain’s obesity problem.
Plans include banning junk food television advertising before 9pm, GP-prescribed bike rides and encouraging restaurants to print calorie values on their menus.
But some have hit out against the campaign.
The plan comes as evidence has begun to mount linking excess weight with a higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus.
Two-thirds (63%) of UK adults are above a healthy weight, with 36% overweight and 28% obese, according to government data.