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?

With that in mind, what is it about the extra weight that makes Covid strike harder?

Not sure they know really but I would assume that if you are obese your lungs and heart etc will be under more pressure. Things like heart rate don't always reflect that accurately (though that's way lower than mine is so I'm sure you're much fitter than I am!)

Also the fact you were once fat doesn't qualify you as the expert

Who said I was? After all mine's just another anecdote among all the rest, but it's truly interesting to see the way some are welcome and others not

After all mine's just another anecdote among all the rest, but it's truly interesting to see the way some are welcome and others not

I never said you weren't welcome. If you read the rest of my post you'd have seen I said you had your opinion and I had mine and that was fine.

[quote Imissthegym]**@ChimaeraEgg@boysonthesofa That’s really interesting. I wish meds had been a thing when I was in binge eating hell. I’m sure that would have helped a whole lot more than weekly counselling talking about my relationship with my Mother![/quote]
Yes indeed. I've been diagnosed late but it has tied together so many things that have plagued me for decades. Not a cure but certainly has helped me have a much more active lockdown minus binge eating. The medication doesn't work well if I don't eat well and often. It's very motivating therefore to be healthy and active because mentally I feel so much better.

Peoples frames vary hugely and I think BMI is a load of rubbish

But that's exactly why the BMI range is so massive - it takes into account differences in frame. For my height I can be anything between 8st and 11st and still be "healthy", but the difference there is huge.

It's weird how people who say BMI is nonsense "because professional weightlifters" never seem to be professional weightlifters.

@ChimaeraEgg

With that in mind, what is it about the extra weight that makes Covid strike harder?

Not sure they know really but I would assume that if you are obese your lungs and heart etc will be under more pressure. Things like heart rate don't always reflect that accurately (though that's way lower than mine is so I'm sure you're much fitter than I am!)

Yes, I guess you must be right.

I'm sure on the whole being obese = more underlying problems.

I don't have any obvious ones but who knows?

Hence the wake up call, I guess.

Not easy though. 45+ years of dieting /
Restricting - binging / repeat is a hard one to address and won't happen overnight.

@fellrunner85 Well I am a weightlifter actually! Not a professional but a very good one. My BMI is the top end of healthy and as a perfectionist that annoys me but I know that’s healthy for me.

As a teen with an eating disorder I had a BMI of 19.1 and despite the fact I wasn’t eating and hadn’t had a period in 18 months I wasn’t allowed ED treatment until I had a BMI under 18.5. So yes, I do think it’s too prescriptive and I think it’s perfectly possible for some people to naturally be a bit over and or a bit under/

@ekidmxcl

It’s almost like saying oh you’re so poor, just get a good job.

Oh for goodness sake, no it isn't.

Actually also plenty of people who are at a healthy BMI do have eating disorders. Bulimics are often a normal weight.

I agree. Given the sacrifices everyone is having to make, I think anyone overweight has a moral obligation to everyone else to do their best to lose the weight.

I got shouted at the other day by a hugely overweight person for (accidentally) going the wrong way around the supermarket. He said that people like me were the reason people are dying - I apologised but I felt like saying "If you are so concerned, get your own house in order first!".

People need to be willing to make sacrifices themselves before they expect such huge sacrifices from the rest of society.

And before anyone jumps on me, I do know how hard it is. I put on a load of weight during the first lockdown and I found it so hard to lose. And some people have genuine reasons why they can't lose the weight. But for those of us who can, I really think we need to make the effort.

I actually think it would be a lot better for everyone if people stopped being so angry with one another and realised that it is a fucking pandemic. They happen. We were always going to have another one. It could have been even worse. The next one might be even worse.

What is the point in yelling at one another. Yell at the government. If they'd dealt with this as they were told to last January, we would not be in this situation now.

@Fr0thandBubble do you think that's what fat people do, not 'make the effort'? A lot of fat people I know are full of shame, depression and self loathing. It's not like they can't be assed!

Having worked in the eating disorder field fairly extensively I think saying BMI is a load of rubbish is a bit of a sweeping statement. There are outliers, athletes, professional rugby players etc but it's s fairly reliable indicator. My DH is classed as overweight according to it but he's exceptional in terms of large muscle mass from weight training and very low body fat.

I do agree it's unfair that a certain low BMI needs to be hit before people with disordered eating can be considered for in patient treatment. However most community treatment packages will offer an intervention regardless of weight but if there are other symptoms of ED present.

@Fr0thandBubble

I agree. Given the sacrifices everyone is having to make, I think anyone overweight has a moral obligation to everyone else to do their best to lose the weight.

I got shouted at the other day by a hugely overweight person for (accidentally) going the wrong way around the supermarket. He said that people like me were the reason people are dying - I apologised but I felt like saying "If you are so concerned, get your own house in order first!".

People need to be willing to make sacrifices themselves before they expect such huge sacrifices from the rest of society.

And before anyone jumps on me, I do know how hard it is. I put on a load of weight during the first lockdown and I found it so hard to lose. And some people have genuine reasons why they can't lose the weight. But for those of us who can, I really think we need to make the effort.

But how do you know that people aren't losing weight and 'making an effort'?

If you saw me in a supermarket you'd see a size 16 overweight woman. Presumably you would assume I'm making no effort.

You would be wrong because you wouldn't know that 4 months ago I was nearly 4 stone heavier and a size 22/24.

@SeeooelllaaaCola As I said, I know it's hard but actually I DO think a lot of overweight people don't make enough effort.

It's hard, but it's not impossible. And surely when people are losing their jobs, their homes, their businesses, their education, people owe it to society to be making a huge effort to lose the weight?

Because, although this is just a hunch, I am pretty sure that if everyone were a healthy weight we wouldn't need to have these lockdowns.

@Fr0thandBubble

I agree. Given the sacrifices everyone is having to make, I think anyone overweight has a moral obligation to everyone else to do their best to lose the weight.

I got shouted at the other day by a hugely overweight person for (accidentally) going the wrong way around the supermarket. He said that people like me were the reason people are dying - I apologised but I felt like saying "If you are so concerned, get your own house in order first!".

People need to be willing to make sacrifices themselves before they expect such huge sacrifices from the rest of society.

And before anyone jumps on me, I do know how hard it is. I put on a load of weight during the first lockdown and I found it so hard to lose. And some people have genuine reasons why they can't lose the weight. But for those of us who can, I really think we need to make the effort.

I agree with this unpopular opinion

We have somehow drifted into a culture where there is no emphasis placed on personal responsibility for your own health.

I am sure many factors contribute to this culture of lacking personal responsibility however one of the biggies seems to be the medicalisation of everything - a pill for everything! Get ill, get a pill.

Very little consideration of the sources of the illnesses. I’d think a very high proportion of NHS budget is spent on lifestyle issues, treating them medically and with pills and not addressing the root causes within the lifestyle.

So on and on we go.

however one of the biggies seems to be the medicalisation of everything - a pill for everything! Get ill, get a pill.

If you're referring to mental health problems here frankly you don't know what you're talking about.

Anti depressants don't work for everyone. For some they are the difference between life and death.

I suppose you're one of those people who thinks I could treat my ADHD with a nice walk and some cod liver oil.

Whenever I say on weight loss threads to ditch the junk, without fail people will come on saying “what joy is there in life without cake”

The fetishising of junk food has been very successful by the marketing departments of the food manufacturers

Very little consideration of the sources of the illnesses.

What is the source of overeating? Why do you think people over eat?

Cake is not "junk". If you're having cake every day it is obviously not good for you. The odd bit of cake is not going to be an issue.

Frankly I think referring to food as "junk" "treats" "naughty" and so on is half the issue.

@halfshrunkmoretogo Of course some people are making an effort (and hats off to you) but I really don't think enough people are. We are nearly a year into this now - and I see no difference in people's size when I look around me.

I think the media should be making it much clearer the effect which being overweight has on how much a person will be affected by Covid. It's like the elephant in the room, and it's not doing anyone any favours.

@ChimaeraEgg

however one of the biggies seems to be the medicalisation of everything - a pill for everything! Get ill, get a pill.

If you're referring to mental health problems here frankly you don't know what you're talking about.

Anti depressants don't work for everyone. For some they are the difference between life and death.

I suppose you're one of those people who thinks I could treat my ADHD with a nice walk and some cod liver oil.

That was some leap!

I more mean things like T2 diabetes. Completely reversible (and preventable) by lifestyle. Yet most NHS treatment is drugs and amputations etc. NOT lifestyle change treatments.

T2 kills 24,000 people a year and it’s rising. It costs approx £10bn a year

I more mean things like T2 diabetes. Completely reversible (and preventable) by lifestyle. Yet most NHS treatment is drugs and amputations etc. NOT lifestyle change treatments.

OK so then we are agreed, we should be looking for the reasons behind why people over eat and end up that way.

Those reasons will not be the same for all people.

@ChimaeraEgg

Very little consideration of the sources of the illnesses.

What is the source of overeating? Why do you think people over eat?

I think they eat food which makes it biologically difficult to control their appetite, food which interrupts how the hunger hormones work.

Nb. This is therefore not a willpower problem

AND this food biologically makes it very difficult to burn up fat

Nb. This is not a willpower problem

We have a bad rhetoric around calorie counting, way too simplified for most people, especially as they age.

"Im 5"2... For me to have a healthy BMI I would have to lose 2 stone, and I'm only a size 12 but my boobs are 38 E"

@SeeooelllaaaCola I'm honestly not sure what your point is here. You're very short, a 38" back and a size 12. Are you trying to say BMI is wrong because it puts you at 2st overweight?

As someone who spent the best part of her adult life kidding herself she wasn't fat because she still fit in a size 12 from most shops... in the nicest possible way, I think you need to be honest with yourself.