Talking about weight and covid

[Iamsososoexcited]

In the 44-53 age group, 73% of people in the UK are overweight to obese. This is a government statistic according to the House of Commons library.

Does anyone else think this is massively concerning?

This awful virus arrived a year ago. It has a disproportionate effect on people who are overweight and obese.

People are washing hands, wearing masks, keeping their distance, isolating with families to stay safe. Why aren’t people losing weight to stay safe as well?

I don’t understand. It is like being told there is a course of action you can take (losing weight) that will drastically improve your chances of surviving this terrible virus, and yet people are not doing it?

Please help me understand?

Interestingly, there is a lot of anger posted at me. At no point have I been goady, aggressive or sworn. I have simply asked “what are we, as a nation, going to do?”

No you haven't 'simply asked'. You've posted something as if it's incredibly black and white - and people are either 'good' or 'bad'.

If you have an ounce of sensitivity, empathy and compassion you would have taken on board what PP have been telling you throughout this post.

Losing weight is not a simple factor for many overweight people

Your failure to grasp that shows that you are either intentionally trying to goad, or you have an issue with interacting with other people and their views.

Your facts are not wrong. But please, please, please think about more deeply as to why you're getting the reaction that you are.

@Iamsososoexcited

You are missing the point. Nobody has denied there’s an obesity problem. Someone further up the thread said I was in denial about my weight. I’m not, I am a fat person. I do not feel ashamed about being fat, which I am aware does make certain slim women feel angry.

I have lost weight before and I will do it again. I know exactly what to do, and I know being slim is a healthier lifestyle choice, so that’s a good enough reason to pursue it. Personally I think I look good slim, but I also feel okay fat. That’s probably the issue with me. My self esteem is not correlated with the size of my arse. I feel good from within.

It crosses over into fat shaming when you read statements such as “it makes me sick”

It’s at that point you cannot have an intelligent conversation regarding weight matters. It’s a sad fact that some women do put others down about their weight, disguised in a “caring” way.

It’s usually not, which is a shame as obesity is one hundred percent a risk factor for covid.

If we could just discuss that without crossing over into fat shaming then it would be a reputable thread.

On the slightest off chance that you genuinely cannot begin to understand, this might give you an idea as to how complicated issues around weight are.

This is a link to the pdf so you can see more clearly as the image isn't particularly clear.

Even with the threat of death from covid hanging over their heads, people have to fight many or even all of these factors. Its not shit excuses, its not feelings over facts, its not laziness or not caring, its not greed and its not ignorance either.

[quote SeldomFollowedIt]@DayBath

I agree. Nothing but a nasty, fat shaming thread. As if people aren’t already struggling with their mental health.

This thread needs to be deleted.[/quote]
Yes, let's get rid of any and all opinions that make anyone uncomfortable. 🙄

@SeldomFollowedIt I never said “it makes me sick”
Don’t attribute words to me that I never said. I have also never fat shamed. I said quite specifically early on, I am not interested in body shape or a person’s size for vanity reasons. Purely health. Smoking causes death. Obesity causes death. We need to start being open about that. Then hopefully something can be done.

@Northernsoulgirl45 didn't express myself very well. There are no good options. Covid deaths are tragic. Any death at the moment is tragic, because the funeral will be such a short changed affair. I gained so much from the turnout at my fathers funeral, seeing people I hadn't seen since I was a child. Usually, it's a time of celebration of someone's life, and so important to mourners. Now, and more so in the initial wave, it doesn't really give anyone that sense of closure. That is just one example of how I think lockdown goes wrong. Not having it will kill more people. But as it is, the debate we are having pretends that it is the least bad option. The longer it goes on, the less I agree with that view.

@GlittercheeksOakleaf do you have a link to the pdf? It didn’t work.

@GlittercheeksOakleaf that PDF is fantastic, and illustrates so well the difficulties people might face.

@Iamsososoexcited the link works, not quite sure why you can't don't want to? see it.

Anyway. As you say:

hopefully something can be done

So what's your suggestion then?

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf

@Iamsososoexcited

Didn’t say it was you. It was @tatutata.

I’m off now ladies, if yous really want to help the obesity crisis (and subsequent covid deaths) then a little empathy is what is needed. You won’t get very far without it.

In my humble opinion.

Goodbye, peace and love to all. ❤️

OP, I’ll ask again. Many studies show a protective effect of being in the 25-30 BMI category. So since your only concern is for health outcomes, what are you doing to get yourself into that category?

If you're so sensitive about your weight and so-called fat shaming why on earth would you click on this thread? You call the OP goady but it sounds like some of the posters want to feel enraged.

And a couple of posters have said it will help give them a 'kick up the arse' so sounds like it has been helpful to at least a few people.

I agree it is very hard to lose weight. Poor mental health, stress, anxiety, being stuck inside home schooling, working from home, unemployment etc. But what better motivation is there than dying of Covid, unable to breathe to lose weight? Spending time in icu on a ventilator-that will only increase your poor mental health. I’ve been there and I’m still suffering the consequences. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

I know that with any addiction, nothing, absolutely nothing works unless the person has the will themselves.

Dh was very overweight. I made healthy food - he just went out and bought snacks. I made him packed lunches - he’d throw them away and go and buy two mega-packs of M&S sandwiches and crisps. I poured away all the beer in the house. He bought more. I cried/pleaded/threatened - useless. His family pleaded - nothing.

It took a health scare for him to decide, himself , that he was going to lose weight. All those years of my making an effort were a complete waste of time.

I think for some being hungry, like needing a cigarette or a drink or a fix, is something that some people just have to (literally) feed.

@SeldomFollowedIt

What I am fed up with is people not accepting of the situation, trying to blame the government for not tackling it, blaming their long hours at work for not being able to make healthy meals, every excuse for being overweight other than accept responsibility. Yes, that does make me sick.

I'm actually not talking just about weight, this country has a major problem in that we have somehow evolved into a society that continues to blame others for most of its problems instead of people accepting responsibility themselves for their issues and how to fix them. If you constantly blame external factors for your problems, you will lead a very sad and miserable life because you cannot change the world, only you can change you. Simple.

It's very harmful to always blame everyone, and everything else for your problems.

I do understand weight loss is complex, absolutely but how is deleting a thread going to help the issue? The fact that people cannot even discuss overweight/obesity because someone might get upset about it is the very reason the problem will not go away.

Let's not start threads about the harmful effects of smoking or drugs either because we might just upset a few addicts. How stupid does that sound to you?

People get very defensive about their weight and I understand that. I put on weight during the first lockdown. I was no longer walking at least 5 miles a day on the school run that involves some big hills. It was too easy to eat through the brexit chocolate stash and bake new things to fill both the time and our stomachs. I could make excuses for the extra weight but it boiled down to not exercising and eating too much of the wrong things. I used to have an eating disorder so losing weight often triggers the old anorexic brain and I have to be careful but I have lost that weight again. Slowly and generally sensibly. Yes it took effort and was miserable at times but it needed to be done. I've gained a couple of pounds over Christmas and this lockdown thanks to being unwell but I'll be shifting them again. At the worst my BMI was 26.5 and is now 23.5. I'm clinically extremely vulnerable and don't want to make myself more so by being overweight. I can't control the condition that Mayes me cev but I can control how much food I eat and what I eat and how much exercise I do. I never go to the gym or swim, I just walk. That's my exercise and it works for me. There's usually a way for people to lose weight that fits with their circumstances but it's easier to make excuses. I know I've made plenty before but I'm not fooling anybody least of all myself.

[quote SeldomFollowedIt]@Iamsososoexcited

Didn’t say it was you. It was @tatutata.

I’m off now ladies, if yous really want to help the obesity crisis (and subsequent covid deaths) then a little empathy is what is needed. You won’t get very far without it.

In my humble opinion.

Goodbye, peace and love to all. ❤️[/quote]
Huh??

Thanks for clarification @tatutata.

I think you sound very angry at the UK blame culture as a whole, and I do get that. Snowflake culture etc. I agree with you that people do make excuses about being fat.

I am fat because I eat too much sugar. I’m not in denial or defensive. The fact of the matter is I am fat because I love food a little bit too much. I’ve had covid, and I was okay thankfully. That’s not to say others would be as it is clearly a risk factor.

A lot of the “excuses” you list aren’t really excuses for some people currently. For example if you’re a single parent living in poverty, and you are indeed working long shifts. Losing weight wouldn’t be the priority. A lot of people are in survival mode. They’re just getting on with their lives as best as they can, they’re not blaming people.

That’s life though I guess, there will be excuses and there will genuine reasons why losing weight is currently very difficult. It’s just not black and white.

I have a lot of empathy for people struggling right now.

Aargh, I have just taken away from this thread that high cholesterol and normal BMI is bad. I guess I should ask for statins then and increase my weight.

@tatutata

Wrong tag, sorry.

@GlittercheeksOakleaf

On the slightest off chance that you genuinely cannot begin to understand, this might give you an idea as to how complicated issues around weight are.

This is a link to the pdf so you can see more clearly as the image isn't particularly clear.

Even with the threat of death from covid hanging over their heads, people have to fight many or even all of these factors. Its not shit excuses, its not feelings over facts, its not laziness or not caring, its not greed and its not ignorance either.

Can you post a useable link please.

Is this branches of science converging complicating matters again, giving people no hope and overwhelming them.
Or is it just a host of excuses again.

My issue isn't about people being fat, it's about not doing all you can to try to improve health despite knowing that being overweight is a risk factor that could have immediate consequences (if catching Covid)

This is my own position, but a further thought is that practically all the stumbling blocks to losing weight mentioned have been around for many generations - and poverty, the menopause and MH issues for even longer

So what interests me is that widespread obesity is a relatively recent thing and I wonder why that is. Could it be that modern society's become so averse to personal responsibility that even this is incuded?

@Hrpuffnstuff1

I've already posted a working link above but just for you

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf

And here's the system map atlas

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/295153/07-1177-obesity-system-atlas.pdf

and this is the full report (2nd edition) from Foresight, commissioned by the government

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287937/07-1184x-tackling-obesities-future-choices-report.pdf

but since you seem to assume that its all excuses, you probably won't want to bother reading either.