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

[pocketem]

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

@Xenia again would you have the same attitude about anorexic people? They just need to eat more as it's not fair on the NHS to have the burden of having them for quite often very long stays in hospital?

Surely anyone wishing to make small changes to their lifestyle can access reputable information and advice to do this?
The small incremental changes all add up, such as use car less ( if mobility challenges mean this is difficult a seated workout at home?)
If you have a BMI of over 40 it takes a great deal of calories from whatever source to maintain that, whether its in drinks or non nutritious foods.
Snacking all the time raises insulin adding to a cycle of weight gain, fueling hunger etc.
All of this information is out there.
People can not get hugely obese eating natural foods unless it is mega portions.
I think people here are very offended about weight but it is an issue.
When shopping I do sneak a peek in others trolleys, people who are overweight do have it stacked with junk processed food, sugary pop and snacks.
The people who have a trolley full of natural foods are generally smaller this is not a coincidence?

@Helenadove pick up some fags on your way back

@Goatymcgoaty DH wont need much if any persuasion. He still misses cigs fourteen years on.

Not sure i can bear to actually smoke again but if he starts i wont need to

In a small one bedroom flat i would just have to breathe if DH started smoking again.

I dont need a foodbank Are you suggesting i take help i dont need. I posted about tinned food as a response to a post about how foodbank users would access fresh vegetables and meat. If you don't need a foodbank then you can buy fresh food.

I'm not intending to start smoking, costs too much and I'd rather take my chances with covid (may have already had it) than risk cancer!

If you want to be a healthy weight just eat a lot less eg twice a day not more and only drink tap water.

You truly are the post patronising person on the planet, @xenia.

these threads are always the same - boring repetitious and yet completely overlooking the evidence that it is just not as simple as you think.

Your gut biome influences how many calories you take from your food - see eg www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5082693/

and affects insulin resistance www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23159341

Some unfortunate people extract more calories from eating exactly the same amount of food as thinner people. There is a good you tube video where a doctor talks about how certain things affected his own gut biome and what he has to avoid eating. It's been posted on mumsnet before but I didnt bookmark it and anyway no-one here would watch it as you obviously didnt watch it when posted previously.

Eating a good range of fruit and vegetables may eventually have some influence on your gut biome but it's actually very difficult to change without a faecal transplant. Pre and probiotcis have been suggested eg www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6412733/

So no it's not just as simple as eat less and move more or even eat more heathily and move more.

I did listen to that programme about gut biome and it was really interesting. At the end of the day though it did confirm that over processed sugary food is terrible for your gut, and fruit and veg help.

I don't think it's at all helpful to tell people that eating a bit less won't make any difference.

"The New NHS Slogan

Start Smoking
Eating Less
Save The NHS"

Not too much exercise and take the car instead of public transport. We've already got advice that's the opposite of the usual advice.

I can’t wait until Xenia is allowed to go back to work and start paying all those taxes again, giving her less time to talk about paying taxes and the costs to her of all other, inferior, women not being rich and thin. Because she is both a huge tax payer and of an appropriate BMI, in case anyone hadn’t noticed.

@grumpyorange

But the quickest way to make an impact is surely to sort out the most widespread problems first?

1.25million people in the UK have eating disorders, 8-10% of whom have anorexia.

63% of people in the UK are classed as overweight. 28.7% of those are obese.

I’m sure that solving the latter, and cutting costs of surgeries & repeat prescriptions to treat obesity related illnesses would take strain off the NHS a lot sooner than revising inpatient care for anorexia would.

@ladypete that wasn't my point....

My point is @Xenia seems to think that fat people should pay for treatment as it's as easy as well just eat less. So by that logic the NHS could also save money by saying that those who are struggling with anorexia should just eat more.

It's not a case of just eating less if it was that simple don't you think people could loose weight in a matter of weeks.

I can’t wait until Xenia is allowed to go back to work and start paying all those taxes again, giving her less time to talk about paying taxes and the costs to her of all other, inferior, women not being rich and thin. Because she is both a huge tax payer and of an appropriate BMI, in case anyone hadn’t noticed.

She mentioned the other day that she posts on MN inbetween working to pay the salaries of those horrible ungrateful nurses.

many people are exercising more during lockdown. More time, more motivation, wanting to get outside. Are you not feeling the same?

Many people don't have more time, they are struggling to homeschool and carry on working full time from home in stressful jobs. Many people are petrified to step out of their houses to exercise or go to the supermarket regularly to top up fresh food because of gloating 'fat people deserve what they get' threads like this - none of that helps

*It's not a case of just eating less
*
Oh come on now, of course it is. For most people.

I wonder how much of the outrage on this thread comes from the overweight. I.e. the majority.

.

@Theeighthelephant Doubtless the nurses are spending their spare times knitting a rainbow that says ‘thank you Xenia, higher rate taxpayer’. They’ll put it in the special thin, rich woman ward.

And nosy stasi neighbours taking photos and putting them on FB.

Holly AS me if you have the time What you find wont suit your assumption though.

"many people are exercising more during lockdown. More time, more motivation, wanting to get outside. Are you not feeling the same?"

If you are MORE active during lockdown than before it and you're not someone who goes out to work, you need to look at why there was no activity in your pre-life lockdown world.
I've gone from an average of 13k steps a day to 2k steps a day in lockdown as I'm only going from my living room to my kitchen. I know I need to exercise more, but in pre-lockdown life I was active in a normal way, just going about my life, which is easier and more sustainable than making a point of exercising.

@HollySideEyes you have to mentally be in the right place to do it not just wake up and have 2 meals etc.

I think you need to realise that if it was as simple as just eat less then most people would be sticks in a couple of weeks

"It's been posted on mumsnet before but I didnt bookmark it and anyway no-one here would watch it as you obviously didnt watch it when posted previously."

This has been covered in a few BBC programmes as well, most recently with Steph McGovern sending a stool off for analysis.

I haven't read the whole thread, but if it hasn't already been mentioned, Professor Chris Whitty did a lecture this week, (which is on Youtube) at Gresham College (another thread was created with a link to this a couple of days ago).
In it, he talks in depth about obesity and the link to Covid.
Well worth a look.
He makes the comparison about the fact that the most obese country in the world (USA) has such a high death rate and that the UK has the second highest obesity rate.

I’m eating a chocolate eclair...but it’s from Waitrose. Is that okay or should I self-flagellate? I’m a size 12 which by Mumsnet standards is huge as everybody here is tiny, size 4 and only eats half a slice of pizza.

I do know you have to be mentally focused on it, I did it twice after babies, once through horrendous PND. I'm not unsympathetic.