Fat people even more likely to be affected by COVID than previously thought

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UK government scientists are urgently investigating whether people living with obesity may be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, after emerging data from intensive care units suggested a stronger link than previously thought.

New data from the UK’s Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, which has been presented to ministers and SAGE scientists, has found that the proportion of severely obese patients in ICUs is twice the proportion in the general population.

Ministers have become increasingly alarmed by data coming out of Britain’s intensive care units, with some members of the government suggesting obesity may end up being a factor in the UK’s higher death toll.

The UK is currently projected to have the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe. Around 1 in 4 UK adults are obese. In 2018, the WHO found that the UK had the third highest obesity rate in Europe, behind only Malta and Turkey.

More here:
www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/alexwickham/uk-scientists-coronavirus-obesity-link

Are you suggesting obese people are mentally ill? Seems a bit offensive to me tbh

As someone who is obese I actually do think that in many cases it is a mental illness. Yes, I also have pcos and a great big tumor in my thyroid but that didn't cause the overeating. I could have been a healthier weight even with those problems with a stricter diet. I couldn't lose weight till I had a lot of therapy for my ptsd and depression. Funny that.

As I've said the reasons for obesity are many and varied. With the anecdotal primary school children a PP speaks about. Perhaps the family is living in temp accommodation with no cooking facilities or proper storage space. Perhaps the child is autistic and only eats certain foods. Perhaps it was a treat. And yes in some instances it's lack of understanding about healthy food. The last reason isn't hard to tackle. A bit of education. The others require money - decent housing, better support for austitic children and their families, improved MH care.

Underlying conditions are more likely to be present in obese people. Obese people are unhealthy, many suffering from diabetes and heart conditions so of course they are going to be more effected, not rocket science.

That sounds too much like victim-blaming for the UK's high death rate

I live in Germany and guess which country is close behind the UK in the European obesity league ?

That's right, a lot of very fat Germans, but ... still very low death rates from COVID

http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2017-05/19/c_136296081.htm

"The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study on Thursday that reveals the current scale of the obesity crisis within the OECD member countries."

"In Germany, the obesity rate is ranked among the top ten worst and stands at 23.6 percent, behind Britain (26.9 percent)"

Those low COVID death rates in Germany are down to:
. good leaders making sensible decisions and being proactive
. mass testing, contact tracing and isolation
. monitoring and treatment from the earliest signs of illness
. a health service with massive spare capacity, e.g. 3 x the doctors, ICU & hospital beds per 100,000 population as the UK
. and - maybe - also the authorities encouraging Germans over the last few years to boost Vitamin D intake & sunshine.

Well, I have an underactive thyroid. Doctors in the UK refused to even test for it, even though I reported symptoms regularly and repeatedly from the age of 14. I asked for the test many times and was told it's just that I eat more than I think I do (often I kept food diaries and ate less than 1,000 calories a day as my 'normal'). When I was 39 we moved to the US. After getting so ill that I couldn't function, doctors ran numerous tests - and I have clearly had an underactive thyroid for many years, low Vit D, osteoarthritis and my immune system isn't great. And yes, I'm obese.

If doctors in the UK had taken a simple blood test, instead of laughing at me (literally) then I wouldn't be overweight. I put on so much weight when I was really sick and it's almost impossible to lose any. I eat a very healthy diet, and exercise a lot, and always have, but the weight is staying.

However - I have low cholesterol, and I'm fit with good lung capacity, so maybe I'll be OK.

Aw, hey thin people grateful to find someone to other to reduce your fear! You’re all here.

I know you’ll all be wanting to talk about this data showing a protective factor to being in the 25-30 BMI range. As responsible citizens, do you need any help and support getting up into that BMI category? It’s just that we wouldn’t want Xenia to have to pay taxes (she’s already burdened by that island), so the really responsible thing for you to do is get into the 25-30 BMI category!

Yes I dont see your point though?

That's interesting about Germany 15:54BigChocFrenzy. I'd heard they treat earlier than we do here (unless you are Boris of course)

It makes me laugh that people are disgusted by fat people, hate seeing them, feel sorry for them. Then you say go and exercise.

When overweight or obese people exercise these notions of people being disgusted and hating seeing you makes you think I can't go for a jog, I can't go out for a walk on a nice day as I don't want to be seen in T-shirt and shorts etc. People laugh or shout abuse at overweight people exercising especially if they see them start jogging and having to stop after a short period.

What are overweight and obese people supposed to do? You don't want to see them but you say go exercise. You say they disgust you but expect them to feel comfortable to go for a walk, jog or the gym.

*People laugh or shout abuse at overweight people exercising especially if they see them start jogging and having to stop after a short period.

What are overweight and obese people supposed to do? You don't want to see them but you say go exercise. You say they disgust you but expect them to feel comfortable to go for a walk, jog or the gym.*

True. I’m certain people laugh at me “running” , I can tell myself they’re arseholes but it doesn’t make it any easier.

I am sick of this claim that poor people are unable to take good decisions about food. It’s really insulting and just plain wrong.

For the first 8 years of ds’s life we were really struggling financially, but I didn’t buy chips, pasta, cakes or carbonated drinks.
I bought veg & rice & frozen fish, chicken and fruit because there was no waste & it was cheap. Porridge oats instead of processed cereals because it was cheap.

Being poor does not mean eating bad food. It doesn’t mean being fat. I can still feed both of us on £25 a week if I need to.

And incidentally you don’t need a gym membership or sports equipment to stay healthy. Running is free. A pair of trainers is the only requirement

The fact is though that obesity does bring a host of potential medical risks, that's not being cruel, or victim blaming, it's a medical fact. People need to remove the emotion a bit to get to the crux, rather than to be dismissive because it might offend some people. These links show the need for proper support, counselling and access to care for those who do struggle to maintain a healthy weight. The reason people with anorexia etc recieve treatment is because their decline can be a lot quicker, whereas being overweight can take decades for anything to come to fruition; and often those with binge eating disorder etc are left with nothing.

I believe from a nursing friend the problem is to do with the pressure of excess weight on the lungs.

If you poor, fat and BAME, God help you.It's disgusting. The way people are deemed " to blame"

The data from ICNARC quoted in much of the press seems to show obese people (even those with BMI above 40) are no more likely to be critically ill than any other group, just that there are more of them as a proportion of the population than people with lower BMIs. It’s also not yet possible to disaggregate BMI from other underlying health conditions when looking at COVID mortality figures

@NotAnotherAlias this is the only bit of this thread that’s credible, regarding the hypothesis that obesity and covid and linked.

The rest are just anecdotal comments from armchair experts, who are adamant that the link has been proved as they saw some obese victims on the tv. Or that all the normal BMI people they know weren’t seriously ill, so therefore it follows that fat people are far more at risk.

The only conclusion I have drawn so far is that there aren’t many medics / research scientists on mumsnet.

Yep, for everyone’s health they now need to smoke and have a BMI towards 30. After all, the information is out there and it’s not fair to ignore it and cost the NHS money.

Haven't you noticed the fittest thinnest people are the richer ones who have time, energy, expense, to invest in perfecting their bodies

Haven't you noticed that richer people are usually more educated, disciplined and motivated to have better, healthier bodies? Plenty of people in highly paid jobs with long hours and lots of pressure, yet still find time to eat properly and exercise. It's not about being rich and having tons of leisure time.

So many of my friends are overweight because they fell into the pregnancy 'I can eat anything' trap and put on 2 stone more than was necessary. Then years of more pregnancies, no time to yourself, too busy looking after other people, and consequently stuck in the overweight trap.

What do people do if they have no fridge or freezer? Where do they get fresh vegetables and meat if they're reliant on food banks? Lots of the poorest lack access to the basics - fresh food and proper cooking facilities. Unfortunately for some even £25 a week is too much to spend.

Of course some people can afford to eat well and are overweight but most of the time that's also for a reason be it physical or mental health. A PP explained it well. The symptoms of her thyroid condition were dismissed for years by doctors. Consequently she gained weight. Because of her illness.

I'm curious to know whether it's the smoking or the nicotine that might have a protective effect. If it's nicotine, who knows perhaps in future we'll all end up taking nicotine supplements just like Vitamin C or D!

Stereotyping about rich or poor is equally as damaging, you can't really do one and then moan about the other.

@Querlouse 🏅

I agree with @randomer the problem is that the weight adds pressure to your lungs. My mother is obese and elderly (she has an autoimmune condition which f*cked up her mobility). She caught pneumonia and went down hill fast as she had a reduced lung capacity due to obesity.