British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries his hand at woodwork as he visists Exeter College in Exeter, Britain September 29, 2020. Finnbarr Webster/Pool via REUTERS
London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed Tuesday he was obese when he contracted coronavirus earlier this year, but after losing weight said he now felt much better.
The 56-year-old spent three nights in intensive care in April after contracting Covid-19, and there have been swirling questions about his health ever since.
"I am fitter than I was before, it may irritate you to know," he said, when asked by a reporter about his health following a speech on education.
"I am fitter than a butcher's dog, thanks basically to losing weight.
"When you reach 17 stone six (around 111 kg, 244 pounds) as I did, at a height of about five foot 10 (around 1.78 metres), it's probably a good idea to lose weight, so that's what I've done. And I feel much much better."
An online calculator provided by the state-run National Health Service (NHS) suggests that a man with Johnson's age, weight and height would have a body mass index (BMI) of 34.9 -- classing him as obese.
It is not the first time Johnson has boasted about his health, using a newspaper interview in June to make the "butcher's dog" analogy and even doing push-ups to prove his fitness.
But the issue has returned as a talking point amid disquiet among his Conservative lawmakers over his handling of a new uptick in coronavirus cases.
The outbreak has so far killed 42,000 people in Britain -- the worst toll in Europe.
Johnson has recently been spotted running with a personal trainer in a park near his Downing Street office. As London mayor between 2008 and 2006, he was a keen cyclist.
