No 10 wants people to lose weight before the second wave

[Redolent]

What could possibly go wrong with encouraging people to go on a quick crash diet??

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As well as longer-term proposals to reduce the incidence of obesity, government officials are having urgent discussions about how to persuade people to lose weight in the next few months, before an anticipated resurgence in coronavirus cases in the autumn.

In England, 64% of adults are classed as overweight or obese and 29% as obese as measured by BMI, among the highest levels in Europe.

One official involved in the emergency planning said the government was alarmed at the possible death toll from a second wave. A programme is expected imminently, possibly within 10 days, based on encouraging people to reduce their calorific intake and lose weight rapidly.

I think the 20% has come from this thread.

It was Splodgetastic that originally suggested that everybody in the uk would be required to lose 20% of their body weight.

Sorry if someone beat me to it, but...

Eat out, eat out, lose weight, but more takeaways, go to the pub, DON'T go to the pub or eat out, lose weight, go to the pub...

@UltimateWednesday

It is noticable that none of the medical experts are overweight. Is it really possible that none of them have lead lives that lead to the kinds of "complexities" that cause people to gain weight?

What do you mean? I've known plenty of doctors who are overweight. I once saw a dermatologist who was really massive. He looked alike he was heading towards being one of the poor people who end up being crane lifted out if their homes. Being a medical professional doesn't mean you are immune from either some of the frailties that lead to people being overweight or any of the health conditions that can cause it.

Aren't there quite high rates of drinking and smoking amongst doctors? Maybe incorrect but feel like I read that somewhere.

None of the Covid experts who've been on TV Minimum

Maybe, just maybe, if the government had handled this situation properly, ie locking down earlier and keeping locked down, then we wouldn't find ourselves in this position.

So much blood on their hands. And more to come.

It wasn’t me who said 20%. It was either earlier on this thread or another news article I read.

I mean that it wasn’t me who came up with 20й%

@Splodgetastic

It wasn’t me who said 20%. It was either earlier on this thread or another news article I read.

Well you were certainly the first person to mention it on this thread. I would be very interested to see an article claiming that the entire UK population will be expected to lose that much, because after a cursory search I couldn't even find that nonsense on the daily mail website, let alone anywhere else.

@whatCFeryIsThis I think it was my message at 12:29 that mentioned 20% - but I was being sarcastic, not saying I’d actually read it anywhere. (which I definitely have not!)

@MarcelineMissouri ah I can see your post now. It still doesn't make sense for somebody to pick up on that to start panicking over it 3 hours later, suggesting it's a fact. Especially as you're right, it was clearly sarcastic.

I am not panicking over it, I just think with this government, what fucking next? They are a bunch of donkeys that ought to be shot and hung upside down from the nearest lamppost like the tinpot dictators they clearly are inside.

@ultimatewednesday I know plenty of fat doctors and nurses

What if you’re obese but with no underlying health conditions - no diabetes, no hypertension, no inflammation shown up on blood tests? Everything I’ve seen to date has talked about obesity being a risk factor because of the links with conditions like these. Are you at particular risk when you have obesity on its own? I suspect the peer reviewed research isn’t there yet and no one quite knows but am happy to be corrected.

Also not sure apart from age which are the biggest risk factors? Sex, ethnicity, BMI? They are all so interrelated.

Such an emotive topic....
I was very slim until mid 40s bordering on under weight many times, called horrid names etc.
Mid 40s suffered some trauma and started binge eating - took me about 3 years to go from size 8 to size 16. Felt horrendous. I know how to lose weight, but never realized how difficult it was until I found myself in that situation. I have ongoing poor mental health, medication that causes weight gain, but without it, I don’t think I could survive. I eat very healthily but still have some issues with over eating on occasion and I don’t exercise enough. I am trying really hard atm because I’m terrified of getting diabetes and I loathe the way I look. I am exercising more and trying to watch what I eat.
I have to say I used to really have a low opinion of overweight people when I was very slim... now I know there can be so much more to it. I try to focus on:
Move more
Put good food into my body

@Lemons1571

What if you’re obese but with no underlying health conditions - no diabetes, no hypertension, no inflammation shown up on blood tests? Everything I’ve seen to date has talked about obesity being a risk factor because of the links with conditions like these. Are you at particular risk when you have obesity on its own? I suspect the peer reviewed research isn’t there yet and no one quite knows but am happy to be corrected.

Also not sure apart from age which are the biggest risk factors? Sex, ethnicity, BMI? They are all so interrelated.

Even if you have no underlying health conditions, obesity decreases lung volume, so can interfere quite a bit with breathing capacity.

I think lungs and how well we can breathe are majorly important in Covid patients.

I think it's more complicated than lung volume. It might also be something to do with inflammation.

Some obese people remain insulin sensitive but it's so unusual that there are studies in to why that small percentage of obese people remain insulin sensitive. So, obese people cannot really bank on that. A lot of overweight people declare that they're healthy, and they may well be at the moment but the metabolism is struggling behind the scenes.

@Splodgetastic

I think it's more complicated than lung volume. It might also be something to do with inflammation.

As easy thing that most people (who aren't vegetarians) can do is to stop using sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and all of those other vegetable oils that cause inflammation, that we all believed were healthy for twenty odd years. 30 maybe.

You're better off cooking in butter. I think olive oil is better because the process of extracting the oil is easier.

I think this one switch can make your body less 'inflamed'. In early stages.

I don't suppose the government can really say ''stop using vegetable oil right NOW'' because many British companies who produce these products would suffer. I used to think crisp n dry was healthy until about a year ago I thought it was healthy because seed was healthy. Same with sun flower seeds/oil

MN, the only world that seems to need spoon feeding every step of the way.

Learn some common sense. And take some responsibility. It really isn’t hard.

It is noticable that none of the medical experts are overweight
JVT looks a bit chubby to me. Although the extra weight probably comes from his massive balls.

''Learn some common sense. And take some responsibility. It really isn’t hard.''

And yet, 60% of adults are at least overweight (or obese) so, I think figuring out how to not become overweight in this world we live in today is hard. Or harder than it should be.

@ketowinnie cold pressed organic seed oils are fine, and indeed good for you.

Olive oil is also OK if cold pressed. It is better for you as has higher levels of omega 3.

Rapeseed oil is better in cooking than olive oil as it has a higher smoke point and degrades less. Still best to add after cooking.

Don't buy seed oils in America! They are full of crap. We don't make oils in the same way.