The recent report from London Sports shows half of Londoners are cutting their spending on sport and exercise. The impact of the economic crisis on public health should be ringing alarm bells in Whitehall and Westminster.
When people talk about the obesity crisis, they often fail to explain what it means. It means a third of our kids leave primary school overweight. It’s led to surgeons amputating 140 feet or toes every week for Type 2 diabetes-related conditions.
Yet we know at least half of Type 2 diabetics can reverse or reduce the disease by changing what they eat and moving more. It’s a public health disaster — way more extensive than Covid-19.
Movement is medicine, so when people cancel their gym memberships or stop playing sports it’s a problem. There’s a taxpayer interest in this policy — 10 per cent of the NHS budget is for dealing with the impact of Type 2 diabetes alone.
When I weighed 22 stone and was on medication for Type 2 diabetes, I was sluggish at work in the afternoon. I had to get up in the night to use the bathroom. It left me sleep-deprived and regularly fatigued. There are 3.5 million people with Type 2 diabetes in the UK. If the new Prime Minister wants to solve Britain’s productivity problem they can make great strides by encouraging us to eat real food, come of sugar and live more active lives.
I’m an expert on diets. After all, I’ve failed nearly every diet in the last 40 years. It wasn’t until I removed sugar from my diet, cut out processed food and joined a gym that I lost eight stone in weight and reversed diabetes. I’ve literally written the book about it.
Of course, you don’t have to be a gym member to lead an active life but it helps if you want to lift weights to grow muscle or run in the winter. Wouldn’t it be great if the country’s new leader would commit to working with local authorities and companies to keep our gyms and pools open at an affordable price? Let’s help people lead more productive and harmonious lives through increased movement and improved nutrition.
