FREE fat-fighting classes will be offered to 700,000 Brits — as damning research reveals obesity is fuelling Covid deaths.
To coincide with World Obesity Day today, the PM has pledged £100million to help the nation slim.
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Tubby adults will be able to access diet apps and weight-loss plans.
There may also be a reward scheme, to be developed by Air Miles founder Sir Keith Mills.
Boris Johnson, in intensive care with the virus last April, said: “If we all do our bit, we can reduce our health risks and take pressure off the NHS.
“This funding will give extra support to people across the country who want to lose weight too.”
The boost in funding comes after research found that 2.2 million of the 2.5 million global Covid deaths were in countries with high levels of obesity.
Overweight adults have a 50 per cent higher mortality from the virus.
Two in three adults in the UK are too fat.
Britain has suffered the fifth highest number of deaths globally, with 123,296 pandemic-related fatalities recorded by Tuesday.
The World Obesity Federation said: “The failure to address the causes of obesity over decades is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths.”
World Health Organisation boss Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “The correlation between obesity and mortality rates from Covid is clear and compelling.
“We urge all countries to seize this moment.”
The report calculates 2.2 million of the 2.5 million global Covid deaths were in countries with high levels of obesity.
It includes the UK, which comes in fourth on the global fat list and has the third-highest virus mortality rate.
In contrast, Vietnam has the smallest proportion of deaths and the second lowest levels of overweight citizens.
As well as raising Covid risks, being too heavy increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and many common cancers.
Professor Rachel Batterham, from the Royal College of Physicians, said: “The link between high levels of obesity and deaths from Covid in the UK is indisputable.
“With 30 per cent of Covid hospitalisations in the UK directly attributed to overweight and obesity, and three quarters of all critically ill patients having overweight or obesity, the human and financial costs are high.”
