COVID and obesity

[Sarcelle]

There seems to be a link to obesity and the likelihood of surviving the virus. Full disclaimer, just saw this on a Sarah Vine article on the Fail's website. If that is true, as we are the fattest in Europe, that may account for our record numbers of deaths. It will be more complicated than that, but it will be a large factor.

I am overweight (not obese). I lost 2 stone a few years ago and it has slowly crept back on - about 7 pounds of it. (I never reached my goal weight at that time.) This virus, the threat of it, has made me want to step up the weightloss and fitness. I need to lose approx 19 pounds to get to my goal weight. Even those 7 pounds has made me feel sluggish and un energetic.

I am wondering if this crisis will spur people on to lose the weight for health reasons. Could this be a real impetus for changing our bad habits for good. I think lockdown will leave people fatter or fitter and initially I was heading towards fatter, but I have pulled back and am now at the same weight I was pre lockdown, still overweight but without any new pounds added.

Lockdown has given people the time, for the first time, to actually assess their lives and take decent amounts of exercise.
Once we are put back to work, we will once again be locked into another sort of lifestyle...driving to work, work, driving home again.
I'd like to see the return to having households where only one person works. The home spouse would obviously have time to exercise, but crucially, free up the weekends for family time rather than it being housework time. (Spent walking and playing sports hopefully)

We have sleep-walked into a gruelling way of life. I wonder if this could be a great opportunity to reset the 'normal' way of life?

"I'd like to see the return to having households where only one person works."

Spiffingly, I doubt that will be a popular view, but maybe it should be.

"We have sleep-walked into a gruelling way of life" Both parents work now for the wage that used to be paid to one. A really good deal for the employer.

I'd like to see the return to having households where only one person works

It isn't a popular view here. I don't have any desire to give up my hard-earned financial and personal autonomy by staying at home.

OK, so not everyone who is overweight has diabetes, however, the link is very strong, and this is what it costs in money terms, let alone life shortening issues:

The cost of diabetes to the NHS is over £1.5m an hour or 10% of the NHS budget for England and Wales. This equates to over £25,000 being spent on diabetes every minute.
In total, an estimated £14 billion pounds is spent a year on treating diabetes and its complications, with the cost of treating complications representing the much higher cost

@Peggysgettingcrazy totally off subject (kind of), I to was ill in February, for about 3 weeks I couldn't get out of bed, raging temperature and a whole host of other things.....since then I have no sense of taste or smell. Wonder if we had the same thing.?!!!

The obesity stats for each country in Europe don't vary much. Only a few percent between most countries in Europe. It's clearly a factor with covid but I don't think it's the biggest factor given somewhere like Germany has massively fewer covid cases and high levels of obesity. What is the biggest factor seems to be how governments have responded to the crisis.

@igivein well done!!

I was a BMI of 42 at the start of this. Have lost 22lbs and am in spitting distance of BMI 37. Just got to keep on going!💪

It's mixed, i think. For younger obese people, it won't register. For older people 35+ i think it will but those that emotionally eat will be under extra stress because it takes months to go from being obese to over weight.

I'm obese, i am nearly 14 stone, i take a size 14 clothes. Im at level 2 of obesity, there are three levels. I paniked and ate at first, now I'm back on a diet plan. But i will only average a stone a month. So realistically a vaccine may come before I've lost the weight, which is why some won't bother, especially if bigger and would struggle to average a stone a month. Losing weight was my goal before this.

I'm on various diet groups on FB and there's a mix because it's been said that being calorie deficient isn't great if you do contract it, which slows down weight loss even more. Losing weight when you're obese isn't like trying to drop a few lbs or the baby weight etc.

When I started this thread I thought I would get piled on. Lots of you have done so well already and makes me want to tackle my last 19 pounds as well. AsI am going to be WAH without a commute I have more time to move, and I intend to push my plate away more and make sensible choices.

Most of us if we are honest can lose weight. Some of us have hurdles we need to surmount before we can, but for most of us this is one of the few things we can control.

Well done to you too @monkeytennis97 ( but not !). My bmi's still 41.7, but that's got to be better than the pushing 45 it was when I started.

I don't think we should look at our weight purely in terms of how it affects covid, but did I see on another thread that bmi between 25-30 has so far correlated with better outcomes than 20-25?

I hope so OP. Many people that were in denial are having a reality check now and rightly so. I include loved ones of mine in that. Just a shame it took this to hit home, such an increase of children at nursery and reception level going into school overweight (when teaching I noticed this), hopefully that will stop now.

people who suffer from obesity rather than just overweight, have eating disorders largely due to psychological issues, no more would you expect anorexics to be spurred on to put on weight than the other way round. until we stop chucking MH out the window it won't get better, yes there is more availability to crappy fatty food now, so people are in general fatter, but addictive personalities who comfort eat in previous decades would have probably chain smoked,or had alcohol issues.

well done i give in thats fantastic!!!

Passing it on to their children is where I lose sympathy.

Thanks @calpolatdawn . You're right though, I've struggled with weight for as long as I can remember and it's much more psychological than anything else. It's not really about what you eat, it's about WHY you eat.

I'm not stupid, I know loads about food and nutrition (worked in a food science lab for five years), so telling me to eat less and move more really isn't going to cut it - I know that but still overeat, worse when I'm down / depressed.

That's why trying to be positive / happy is so important for me to be able to make any progress.

I don't know if I'm making any sense here, but what I'm trying to say is maybe we do need to step back and sort out our mental health as a nation to make any impact on the obesity crisis.

There have been several threads on this theme already, here's one of the more popular ones:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3897242-Fat-people-even-more-likely-to-be-affected-by-COVID-than-previously-thought

Its all a lot to read so to sum up:

People who aren't fat or maybe half a stone overweight, who like to point at the fatties, start a thread. Then if anyone dares to counter their argument they do a Daily Fail sad face and say "but i was only saying, poor me, I'm allowed an opinion, after all I am fat too" etc.

They are then backed up by a few fat people who say "yes I know I am in the wrong and I eat lard all day, please kick me". (they get kicked).

The third contribution is from those posters fat or otherwise who want to point out research that might counter the OP's assertions. The more robust this research is the more they get kicked too.

In times of crisis, people will seek out those who are "other" in some way.

Earlier on this thread I said I was overweight but not obese. Prompted by an earlier post on this thread I checked my BMI and I'm actually in the obese category. Lower end, but still a huge shock.

Interestingly I've never had any doctor or nurse mention my weight to me. I'm broad shouldered (size 16 shoulders no matter how much weight I lose) and my arms and legs are slender so I think I probably carry it well. But a big shock, especially as the excess weight is around my middle.

I think this will be a wake up call for many people.

I think you're missing out the posters on that thread that were overweight in the past and lost it for health reasons DishingOutDone. Now why is that?

Listening to More or Less on Radio 4 this morning. They go into statistics and dig into what they really mean. They seemed to be saying the level of obesity that makes a difference is around the 20 stone mark.

people who suffer from obesity rather than just overweight, have eating disorders largely due to psychological issues
This really isn't true. Most people gain weight gradually through overeating a small number of excess calories day by day. Most people can lose weight once they identify this, and which foods they can cut back on.
For a woman of average height there's only about 2 stones difference between a healthy weight and obesity, easy enough to creep on over a couple of years, especially if you don't weigh yourself, wear stretchy leggings all the time or listen to people who tell you things like 'BMI is crap', 'size 14 is average' and all the rest of it.h
Of course there will be a small number of people with complex mental issues who need professional health, but there's no need to pretend that applies to all obese people.

I'm obese, but with no underlying health conditions. I've had Covid and it was a badish case of the flu for me. Nothing more.

I don't see any kicking going on @DishingOutDone - apart from your post.

No body is pointing anybody "other" out in time of crisis.

I was reading a paper in the Lancet about this yesterday - it is a significant issue. www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31024-2/fulltext

Anecdotally, I live in a country where they have been publishing photos of severely ill kids who recover and I have noticed that every one of them is severely overweight.

i givein yes absolutely, or people who give up smoking /alcohol and then absolutely pile in the weight, that addictive need is still there. Actually i imagine the vast majority of people who are seriously obese, not just a bit podgy have trauma/neglect based MH or emotional issues, like i give in says, its about "Why??.