Johnson to ban supermarket promotions of unhealthy food - The Times

(Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to take his first steps to tackle obesity in Britain with a ban this month on supermarket promotions of unhealthy food, The Times reported on Friday.

Shops will be prevented from offering buy one, get one free deals on targeted products, the report said.

A ban is also expected on sweets and chocolates promoted at the end of supermarket aisles and entrances, the report said, adding that No 10 was also considering reviving plans for compulsory calorie counts on restaurant and takeaway menus.

The United Kingdom has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world: nearly one in three adults are obese, according to the OECD.

Worldwide, obesity has nearly tripled since 1975 and more than 650 million people are obese - defined by the World Health Organization as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater.

Last month, Boris Johnson said he was determined to tackle obesity in Britain to better prepare the country for future health crisis.

Johnson, who said at the start of the year that he needed to lose weight, was hospitalised in April with coronavirus and treated in intensive care with oxygen.

He later said doctors in the National Health Service (NHS) had saved his life.

(Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)