Celebrity toxicologist slams Hungarian PM Orbán’s weight in harsh critique
According to Hungary’s most famous toxicologist Dr Gábor Zacher, if the Hungarian Prime Minister, one of the country’s most influential figures, encouraged Hungarians to lose weight, it would have public health benefits.
The toxicologist talked about the worrying health situation in Hungary on the Hungarian television channel RTL. In his opinion, there is a high level of ignorance among the Hungarian population regarding health statistics.
Many diseases could be prevented
Zacher said that Hungary ranked fourth on the list of Covid deaths per million inhabitants. Only Peru, Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria are in a worse position. With the Hungarian healthcare system in such a bad state, it is a miracle that it did not collapse completely during the pandemic. However, he believes that this would certainly have happened if the epidemic had lasted another six weeks.
He added that many diseases could be prevented if people went for health screenings, but due to lack of information a lot of people are not doing so. He also pointed out that in the European Union, Hungary has the highest number of deaths caused by preventable diseases. According to him, the Hungarian government is mainly to blame for the negative records.
We spend tens of millions on billboards depicting bombs, but there is no money to spend on prevention,
he said.
A country full of alcoholics
He pointed out the the ghastly statistics which counted more than 800,000 alcoholics in Hungary.
30,000 die every year due to drinking alcohol and 60,000 because of drugs,
he highlighted.
By this, he implied that alcohol addiction is a bigger concern in the country than drug addiction. However, he added that alcohol consumption alone is not a problem. It is only the quantity that matters. The solution, he said, is for the next generation to learn to drink in a civilised and moderate way. However, they must of course be given the necessary social and educational support to do so.
Read alsoHome delivery by drones being tested in Hungary
Obesity is a serious problem
The toxicologist also addressed the issue of obesity. He believes that the best example could be set by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Instead of a fit Prime Minister, we have a very obese Hungarian Prime Minister, who doesn’t set a good example to the nation,
he noted.
In his view, if the badly obese Orbán stood up in front of the Hungarian people, and said, “Let’s lose 25 kilos in a year,” it would have public health benefits. Zacher is confident that this would be a useful step because the Prime Minister is one of the leading figures in the country, so he would have an impact on many people.
Read alsoA Hungarian series that explores the world through Hungarian roots
Source: rtl.hu
When talking about alcoholism, the person is incorrect to say “alcohol consumption alone is not a problem. It is only the quantity that matters.” WRONG. It is how the person changes their behavior, attitude, and self control after drinking any amount of alcohol that is the concern with relation to addiction. Some people can drink quite a bit & still be in full control so that they behave in their normal ways, while others have 2 or 3 drinks & suddenly the world is unfair to them, co-workers don’t support them, the opposite sex is unappreciative of their talents & looks…they mother was too suffocating, their father didn’t take them seriously….on and on. Pathetic self destructive behavior. It absolutely is a concern if someone is drinking several times weekly, drinking alone, sneaking strong mixed drinks etc because it all impacts health in the long-run….but don’t discount people who can’t handle themselves properly after any amount of booze.
Sounds a bit funny in terms of obesity and being example to the nation. Let’s recall Winston Churchill then…
To improve the health of the people, we have to eat more meat, and animal fat. Vegatabilic oils is very unhealthy, like sun flower seed oil, or rape seed oil. Pure poison to your body.
But meat and butter are so expensive only a minority can afford it.
We need to change the incitaments to meat farming.
Of course sugar and wheat flour are bad as well, but most people know that.
Those are cheap though..
Why the emphasis on the Prime Minister is he the less working man of the country. There are so many factors to obesity.
Just wondering if our PM is showing us all a “great” example.
Also wondering if he is on the same “Langos diet” the great Puskás Ferenc was.
On a more serious note, it’s sad, very very sad, but the facts and figures speak for themselves.
As a nation, we are in deep manure when it comes to healthy eating and controlling stress-factors that cause alcoholism and uncontrolled overconsumption. The freely available cheap pálinkas only add to the huge problem.