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

Much of the current education system is absurd too. Teach kids things they are going to need to know in schools - how to grow things, how to mend things, how to get on with other people. Home economics, how to use leftovers, how to preserve food. How to stay fit when you hate team sports and the games teacher is a monster.(
Sorry, non-monster games teachers, but there were an awful lot of sadists who'd gone into PE teaching around in the 1980s.)

These are all things that should be taught by the adults who chose to have children in the first place. It's not up to schools to have to teach every single thing about life, when they're busy actually teaching the curriculum.

And even if the parents don't know those things to teach their own kids, again they have the entire internet at their fingertips.

And i suspect the second group’s reasoning also applies to the first group but they can’t admit it to themselves or others

The proportion of men over 50 who are obese is higher than 25%. 40% of people aged 40-59 are obese. So yes being fat may itself be a risk, but given being obese means you are more likely to have high blood pressure and diabetes, it does not surprise me that most people in ICU are obese.

People being fat is not the government's fault. At some point people are going to have to start accepting responsibility for themselves.

Although it's not the governments fault you are putting it much too simply. A lot of people are fat due to an eating disorder. Eating disorders are caused by mental health problems. Just telling them to lose weight isn't the solution. That would be like telling a depressed person to chear up or an anorexic to just eat. Telling people that they are too fat doesn't work, in most cases they know this and desperately want to be thinner.

Also, thin doest equal healthy. I know lots of people that are thin but eat shit. My brother is the perfect example: good weight, looks healthy. He doesn't touch fruit at all and hardly any vegetables. He lives on cereal, chocolates, alcohol and meat. He can not be healthy in my opinion.

I agree Liz and am a low carber too and I will say the best side effect, after weight loss of course, is reduction in appetite. The constant cravings are so diminished.
I was always about 2st overweight and it was entirely due to stress eating of carbs

LesFleursDuMal no you're not. People just don't want to take responsibility for themselves, or they're looking a quick fix.

@Xenia we should start to charge anyone over weight for NHS care before they can obtain it.

Would that be the same for anorexic people, suicide attempts etc?

@Tootyfilou thank you for the link to the BMJ article - really interesting

Xenia

And drugs, alcohol, childbirth injuries because you wanted a baby after all, contraception, Lyme disease from a hill walk, encephalitis that you caught on holiday from a tic, malaria because you chose to go to India, a broken leg from skiing, sunstroke because you sat in the garden, anaphylaxis because did you not know that contained nuts ... list goes on and on .

Very few illnesses are entirely born out of pure accident or genetics - most of the time something you opted to do will have factored in, whether it was a small risk or a huge one .

Charge obese people and you’d end up charging everyone around you .

That’s not say I don’t agree with eg a separate charge for routine GP services ... but that’s a different matter altogether. .

Unhealthy people more likely to suffer health issues.
Shocker

I know it is a difficult issue but if we will have very little money next year for the NHS and most of us facing much higher taxes never mind the new 1 - 2m out of work, very difficult choices about the NHS will have to be made and sadly obesity and resultant diabetes are almost breaking the NHS as it stands. It cannot really go on like this.

Also vit D - do go out in the sun as that is the best way to get vit D.

In the UK you can only get vit D from the sun for 6 months a year, Apr-Sept. The D that's been stored is used up in the winter and by Jan/Feb the majority of people are deficient, it's no coincidence that these are the worst months for flu and other respiratory infections.
Also many people work long hours and have too much going on in their lives to be able to drop everything and sit outside exposing their skin when the sun comes out.

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/04/obesity-putting-strain-on-nhs-as-weight-related-admissions-rise
"Data from NHS Digital shows an 18% increase in admissions in the last year either for obesity treatment – usually stomach-reducing surgery – or conditions caused or complicated by obesity, such as heart disease or pregnancy.

There were 617,000 obesity-related admissions in total in England, of which 10,705 were directly for obesity treatment such as bariatric surgery. The most common problem caused or worsened by obesity was wear and tear of the knee joints, followed by the admission of women where the pregnancy had become risky because of weight.
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Most of those admitted were women – 72% for obesity treatment, most often the adjustment of a gastric band fitted to reduce the capacity of the stomach, and 66% for other conditions. The numbers of men and women who are obese – a body mass index (BMI) of 30 to 39.9 – in England are almost identical, at 26% and 27% respectively, suggesting women may be more likely to come forward for treatment than men. More men are overweight (a BMI of 25 to 29.9) than women – 40% against 30%.

Bariatric surgery is considered a last resort, but evidence shows it is effective in reducing weight and could save the NHS a great deal of money in the long run. Last year (2015-16), 6,760 operations were carried out, which is 5% higher than the year before, but 23% lower than at the peak in 2011-12. Some hospital trusts carry out far more procedures than others: Telford and Wrekin did the most, at 53 per 100,000 of the population.

Data from the OECD shows that the UK is still one of the most obese countries in the world. It has the sixth highest levels after the US on 38%, Mexico, New Zealand, Hungary and Australia. South Korea and Japan are at the bottom of the OECD table."

The theory that CV-19 affects overweight people has certainly made me aware of my weight and i am starting to consider what i am eating

God, I should know better than read threads like these, full of the usual ignorance and prejudice, it makes for awful, depressing reading, all the way down to women let themselves go after they marry (or is that just Italian ones?!)

But I do want to comment just to say to people who are struggling to lose weight, don't go on a crash diet, the calories in-calories out model does not work for people who have serious weight issues, you'll destroy your metabolism and eventually regain all the weight

Look up intermittent fasting resources, especially Dr Fung, good luck!

"Living with obesity?"
Is that what it's called now?
I have struggled with my weight all my life, although I'm am now in the "healthy" band after a major health kick three years ago where I upped my exercise, lowered my food intake, reduced alcohol consumption and lost 3 and a half stone.
I hadn't been "living with obesity." I was just bring greedy and lazy.
Health officials have been warning us for years that we are sitting on a time bomb, health-wise, if we're overweight. And here we are! Surely it's no massive surprise?

Well done on turning it around, but sheesh, show a little compassion! I'd have thought your experiences would have left you with a little more empathy towards those who struggle with their weight. You may feel that you were just 'greedy and lazy' but it's not that simple for some people.

Ok well we should charge parents for kids falling off trampolines they bought. Charge people for dog bites when they bought the dog. Don't let people who don't take care of their teeth have access to the dentist as it was self inflicted . Very very few things aren't self inflicted where do we stop. Charging motorbike drivers when they crash as it's statically more dangerous than a car.

@Xenia www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/02/sharp-rise-in-nhs-hospital-admissions-for-eating-disorders

It’s quite difficult to separate obesity from the
comorbidities (high blood pressure, diabetes etc) that would be classed as underlying conditions, that typically come along with it

Obesity isn't caused by high blood pressure! There is an obvious link the other way, although you can also be very fit and slim and still have higher blood pressure than you should. The same goes for diabetes, in most cases type 2 comes in overweight people but you can be slim and have it.

However, all things being equal you are less likely to have health problems if you are a healthy weight.

So eat less and exercise more (she says, having eaten a daily creme egg during lockdown).

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

Probably about as offensive as your constant use of the term 'fat people'

But the link is probably more to do with the fact that people with higher BMI are more likely to have unknown underlying health conditions that on top of the virus cause a problem

This is what Aseem Malhotra has been saying recently in his European Scientist article and press interviews, made the front page Telegraph a few days ago

One of the low carb bandwagon brigade, not a dietician and last I checked wasn't even working in the NHS. Unsurprisingly he isnt slow to promote his business interests.

I think this was also apparent way back at the beginning when we saw the pictures coming out of Italian ICU's as well. Yes, they were mostly elderly, but also the rows of very large stomachs under white sheets was quite in evidence.

These are all things that should be taught by the adults who chose to have children in the first place

Yes that would be better, but as a policy it abandons the needs of children who don't have parents able or willing to teach them about food and nutrition.

Its not about charging the obese for getting ill, surely its support to prevent it or reduce it?
The evidence to general health in losing 10% of body weight if obese has huge benefits.
But it is also the incidental support that is needed and funding is required.
For example mental health support if obesity for an individual is required.
Education on healthy eating/ cooking go all ages.
Cheaper more accessible exercise or incentives financially to encourage individuals to do for example 10,000 steps a day?
Less advertising and promotion of junk food that is linked to an aspirational lifestyle.
Its a massively complex issue, the sheer amount of 24 hour junk food that is available now is keeping so many people overweight, if it was less available we couldnt buy it?