How ‘obese’ is a covid risk.

[j101112]

Posting here for traffic. Keep reading that being obese puts you at risk. Have read somewhere that the risk is if your bmi is over 40. Others have said it’s over 30.

My bmi is in the low 30’s so obviously I’m deemed obese by bmi. I’m not denying that I need to lose weight. I’ve actually managed to lose a few pounds over the last couple weeks.

I’m 29, pretty healthy apart from being fat, don’t smoke or drink. I’m quite active but just like food too much 🤣 barely ever ill, not had a cough in about 10 years, never had a respiratory infection. I know covid can make even the healthiest of people sick.

I’ve been minimising social contact. Other half is working in a low risk job, I’m at home, kids are at school (primary) with no cases, live in area with few few cases at the minute!

Should I be too concerned??

I'm interested to hear the answers too!

It's over 40

Did my NHS COVID risk assessment recently for work and over 30 was an amber and over 40 was more significant risk. I am 30.4.

Just googling here and it appears that a bmi of over 30 is a significant extra risk factor in suffering severe Covid symptoms.

I think your age is giving you a massive advantage. From everything I’ve read it seems to me that those who are negatively impacted by weight are most probably those who are overweight but also have prediabetes/diabetes/metabolic issues.

What do you mean by "be concerned"? What percentage risk of death on catching Covid would make you personally feel concerned?

I'm also carrying too much extra weight, and did some searching around about this, then realised I was trying to find an answer that would make me worry less, but also that would support my laziness to not lose the weight. Sort of like "oh, I'm only Xkgs, I could still gain Ykgs before I'd be REALLY at risk". So whilst I agree with the above that a BMI of 40+ seems to be the "really serious" category, actually it would increase my chances of survival to just lose the extra weight, even if I'm not at 40 just yet. So I'm on a new health kick. And probably this pandemic will be over before I get to my ideal healthy weight, but hey, I'll be ready for the next pandemic (weeps...)

I'm not a doctor or nurse, but my guess would be the risk comes from extra pressure on the heart and lungs. I'm not obsessed but definitely fall in the 'slightly tubby, could use losing a stone' category. I had COVID a couple of weeks back and it felt like my system was having to work really hard to manage. Walking from the bedroom to the bathroom left me breathless and my heart pounding. So I guess if you are carrying a fair bit of extra weight, it probably exacerbates that. Not saying that to be judgey - as I say, am no supermodel myself....

There are alot of variables to it. I'm very overweight and my bmi is 43. I am nervous about it and try to be as careful as possible.
The risk partly comes from if you have a large stomach (which I do) it can be problematic for your breathing if you have to be ventilated. That's why alot patients are placed on their front.

Im no doctor, but a family member is a nurse on a covid ward and my husband is also dealing with covid policy each day. The nurse tells me they are are having completely healthy young people admitted who have been severely effected by covid.
On the opposite side, my husbands colleague recently tested positive. He was slightly unwell, milder than the common cold. He has copd and weighs over 40 stone. He recovered within a few days and has been fine since.
This shows me that it's all about how each person's body deals with and reacts to the infection, and also luck.

Sorry bloody autocorrect made my previous post non-sensical. Was meant to read
I'm not obese not I'm not obsessed
Doh! 😖

40 is the tipping point.

From what I've heard extra weight is a risk factor on its own, even without other factors such as age, diabetes etc, although those things are more likely to exist alongside excess weight.

The theory is that excess weight is already causing the body stress, especially to the cardiovascular system, so Covid on top of that is more likely to reach a tipping point where a poor outcome is more likely.

This would be the case for any BMI in the overweight category or above, but the risk rises as your BMI gets higher. But there isn't a level of overweight BMI where the risk goes suddenly from low to high.

My BMI says I'm obese. I'm really not. I am also classed as highly vulnerable. As I have MS. I had Covid last week. It made my chest feel quite tight. So as a PP said I would imagine obesity would make that worse.

There is a risk calculator.

I’ve got a BMI over 40, I’m 42 and have some conditions but my risk is still considered low. I’d guess you are low risk.

This is the risk chart

My BMI has hovered around 30 for a while, and it's a combo of excess fat AND a big muscle mass from body building.

I have a strong heart and lungs from running (resting heart rate of 54), and my initial infection was pretty mild.

However I have long covid, and I've found that weighted exercise, especially using the large muscle mass of my legs, is very likely to trigger a fatigue episode. (seven months after original infection)

So my reckoning of my own health situation is that my healthy heart and lungs overrode the excess fat for the initial infection, but the excess muscle isn't helping when it comes to long covid.

(I've lost over six stone in the past three years, so I'm quite well attuned to the impact on my body).

The risk calculator says over 30. 30 is obese. 40 is morbidly obese. The latter by definition means the weight itself is a risk irrespective of covid.

BMI of 30 is unfortunately very very high and is a risk factor in more than just Covid. Losing even a bit of weight would help you, you don't need to set unrealistic goals for yourself or beat yourself up because you're not skinny.

There is a questionnaire here that calculates your COVID age and risk category. My COVID age is 93 putting me in the highest risk group.

alama.org.uk/covid-19-medical-risk-assessment/

I'm 48 with a bmi of 34. Most of my weight is round my belly.
I bike 50 miles a week and do a manual job.
I had covid last week. Lost my sense of taste and smell. Spent two days feeling knackered.
It's only now I'm back biking and working that I've found I m getting stabbing pains in my lungs and a big lungful of air isn't always possible.

I thought I was quite fit. Wouldn't like to say if it would be any different though if I had a bmi under 30.

@Ilovexmastime35

There are alot of variables to it. I'm very overweight and my bmi is 43. I am nervous about it and try to be as careful as possible. The risk partly comes from if you have a large stomach (which I do) it can be problematic for your breathing if you have to be ventilated. That's why alot patients are placed on their front.

Im no doctor, but a family member is a nurse on a covid ward and my husband is also dealing with covid policy each day. The nurse tells me they are are having completely healthy young people admitted who have been severely effected by covid.
On the opposite side, my husbands colleague recently tested positive. He was slightly unwell, milder than the common cold. He has copd and weighs over 40 stone. He recovered within a few days and has been fine since.
This shows me that it's all about how each person's body deals with and reacts to the infection, and also luck.

This makes most sense to me. It seems that the impact of the virus is indiscriminate - people who might be thought to be 'high risk' manage well and others who would be thought to be able to shake it off, die. It's not a perfect calculation and I don't believe there to be a cut-off point of 40 for BMI.

People's general health and internal make-up is a huge factor too.

Be as well and as fit as you can, take as few risks as you deem appropriate and don't let your worry over your excess weight affect your mental health. It's not a surprise that so many people comfort ate and gained weight during lockdown; it's a frightening and isolating situation. Insidious finger-wagging doesn't do a wit of good either. When did it ever?

Coronavirus binds to a receptor found in the blood vessels preventing it from doing its usual job of controlling blood pressure and preventing inflammation, hence the cardiovascular symptoms seen in many patients. Obesity will be a compounding factor in that process where your cardiovascular system is already under strain.

I have a question to anyone who has done a workplace risk assessment, especially nhs.

What happens if you flag up as having a risk but aren’t on the shielding cev list?

@Pukkatea

Coronavirus binds to a receptor found in the blood vessels preventing it from doing its usual job of controlling blood pressure and preventing inflammation, hence the cardiovascular symptoms seen in many patients. Obesity will be a compounding factor in that process where your cardiovascular system is already under strain.

Well yes, but still there are other factors that will either exacerbate - or mitigate - risks and recovery. People who are obese may or may not have high blood pressure, they are more likely to be on the 'watch list' and receive treatment for that condition whereas somebody of 'normal' weight may not even be aware.

We've all heard the lectures and as weight isn't a thing that can be quickly (safely) reduced I think that attention to making life better/easier and more pleasurable for the duration is also key. It goes without saying that obesity is a factor for very many non-desirable conditions but it's not the only thing either and the scaremongering about it isn't doing much good or achieving an objective.

I am late 60's, type 2 diabetic and BMI of 32.8 . Fat stomach. All that indicates a negative outcome from COVID-19. I have had COVID-19 and while I was definitely ill (lost a stone in two weeks, since regained) I did not have any complications. I am not saying this to brag, just to possibly reassure others. Interestingly my GP considers me to be overweight but not obese. If I was obese I would qualify for Byetta instead of insulin to treat the diabetes but I don't qualify.