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?

@Paapa

if I'm not going to look after my health who is?

Sadly a lot of people expect everyone else to give up everything worth living for to do just this....

That is also my problem with this. It's not that (unlike the OP) I think weight loss is simple. It's that the people at the lowest risk of covid are paying the highest price.

@Paapa - the vast majority dying from
covid are very old. That’s the group we are protecting.

Of course obesity is a big increased risk, but doubling a small risk is still a small risk.

I've lost weight. I was obese at the start of the March lockdown, and am now overweight. I haven't lost any weight since Christmas, but I'm back to the low carb thing now so will start losing again soon.

I'm also diabetic, which is another thing that scares me with covid. So there's another reason to get control of my diet.

It's bloody difficult though. I like food. It's been my "comfort" since early childhood. If I feel stressed, I eat chocolate. If I'm happy, I deserve a cake. Etc. It's very, very difficult to change the habits of a lifetime. Funny thing is, I adore vegetables, but if I'm going through a tough time I find myself eating junk food and ignoring the good stuff.

[quote tatutata]@Hampotsandonions I think a larger proportion of men are overweight, but there is also a difference in women's immunity. It is more adaptive apparently, due to pregnancy . Odd though, as pregnancy is also linked to the much higher prevalence of autoimmune disorders in women.[/quote]
Thanks v much Tatutata ; that is odd.

That is also my problem with this. It's not that (unlike the OP) I think weight loss is simple. It's that the people at the lowest risk of covid are paying the highest price
@tatutata why would you say that lower risk people are paying a higher price?
Surely everyone is affected by the pandemic one way or another.
I certainly feel my ECV dh is doing all he can to protect himself whilst wfh.
Or is this the usual my kids are losing their whole future to protect some elderly people who have lived their lovely or some lazy obese person who is probably on furlong or on benefits.

[quote partyatthepalace]@Franticbutterfly

I am all for trying to get to a healthy weight and to have healthy habits, I also think people need to be truthful - it isn’t healthy to be overweight. But your post is puzzling - if you are fat then you aren’t looking after yourself, so you are in the same position as your patients that didn’t look after themselves, so surely you understand it is a complex issue for many people??[/quote]
I've lost 2.5 stone since June. I workout most days, walk everyday, don't sit down much. I can't magically not be fat, it's takes ages to lose 5/6 stone (I'm hoping I'll be about a size 12 before my birthday in the summer) but I'm about half way there. 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).

I also have an issue with the way the facts are being reported on the news. I deal with a lot of medical certificates and medical notes and I can see what people are dying of. Very often it is Covid plus a co morbidity that could be prevented. Sadly I'm seeing more and more die of Covid who aren't even old but are overweight.

The government hasn’t emphasised the link between weight and serious illness from covid. And lockdowns make it harder to stay a healthy weight/lose weight. Living under constant restrictions is stressful and encourage a sedentary lifestyle. If you’re only going out occasionally to do food shopping (and you might drive to do that) and once a day leaving your house for a walk you’re not going to be burning many calories. But the boredom and stress of staying confined at home with little social interaction outside your household is going to encourage unhealthy eating and snacking. This is one of the costs of lockdowns, and I would think that it is one of the reasons why they should only be used for very short periods. Yet our government seems to have ignored that three times now.

Another thing at play is probably the menopause and HRT etc.

@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?

Weight loss is much like drug withdrawal; it is not a straightforward course of action like wearing a mask or sanitizing your hands.

I haven't read this thread but OP you are wasting your time. These threads about weight always end the same way they're pointless.

Overweight and obese people will never lose weight until they want to, no amount of pressure will help them too just have to leave them to it.

I agree it's frustrating people keep hitting out at the elderly for taking up ICU, what about the obese and overweight but it's too controversial that's why no one is saying anything with much gravity.

It's not easy staying slim in lockdown with all the gyms closed and the outdoor places somewhat overcrowded!😖😕

@Yohoheaveho are you serious?

Well if she lives in a densely populated area, then I expect she is serious. There are lots of people out in public areas.

Ffs - the way we live makes us overweight

The way we live is capitalism. The form of capitalism we have means people work too hard, commute too much to afford basic necessities!

The LONGEST hours worked in Europe.

We don't have a healthy wellbeing model SUPPORTED by government!!!

In other countries in Europe you get health MOT's - scans and blood tests and encouragement and prescription. They ANTICIPATE health risks by using PREVENTATIVE medicine,

Not here! We'll fix you if you're ill (maybe) but that's it

We need to RADICALLY change society- if we're going to have capitalism it MUST work for people

And on another note - we're in the middle of a FUCKING PANDEMIC, people are stressed off their tits - OF COURSE they're going to turn to food! It's cheap (ish) and they're bored, scared and feel powerless.

@ekidmxcl honestly, people are full of bullshit excuses it makes me sick. You can exercise in your house. Don't tell me your house is too small because you could jog on the spot do anything, just move.

Anyone who says covid means they cannot exercise is lazy and deluded. Bottom line, and they just cannot admit it. Oh, and eating too much because even just eating in a calorie deficit without exercise would result in weight loss so stop with the excuses.

I refuse to believe covid stops you exercising it is the biggest load of bullshit I ever heard.

You are in denial, BIGTIME

Why does everyone always want blame someone or something else for their weight? Take some responsibility.

Franticbutterfly

partyatthepalace
@Franticbutterfly

I am all for trying to get to a healthy weight and to have healthy habits, I also think people need to be truthful - it isn’t healthy to be overweight. But your post is puzzling - if you are fat then you aren’t looking after yourself, so you are in the same position as your patients that didn’t look after themselves, so surely you understand it is a complex issue for many people??

I've lost 2.5 stone since June. I workout most days, walk everyday, don't sit down much. I can't magically not be fat, it's takes ages to lose 5/6 stone (I'm hoping I'll be about a size 12 before my birthday in the summer) but I'm about half way there. 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).

I also have an issue with the way the facts are being reported on the news. I deal with a lot of medical certificates and medical notes and I can see what people are dying of. Very often it is Covid plus a co morbidity that could be prevented. Sadly I'm seeing more and more die of Covid who aren't even old but are overweight.

Good for you, but that must mean you were 5 or 6 stone overweight when you started to loose it. That’s bad for you in any number of ways other than Covid, so presumably for a long time you couldn’t motivate yourself to do anything about it, despite knowing that.

So what I don’t understand why you suddenly say you don’t understand that people still find it hard to motivate themselves to loose weight when you have clearly been in that very position, presumably for some years.

Of course people should be a healthy weight - and great you are getting there - but people have a very emotional relationship with food. Weight loss is a complex emotional issue, and Covid is not going to be the magic motivation bullet that changes that, anymore than diabetes or heart disease have been.

[quote partyatthepalace]@Paapa - the vast majority dying from
covid are very old. That’s the group we are protecting.

Of course obesity is a big increased risk, but doubling a small risk is still a small risk.[/quote]
We don't need an economic shutdown to protect the very old.
They don't have jobs.

Threads like this are always very pointless.

Always descends into overweight/obese people coming up with BS reasons why they aren't a healthy weight.

People won't lose weight unless they truly want to themselves

Lockdown would of still happened even if overweight people was shut away because its not just overweight causing covid fatalities to increase remember,people from bame communities, over 70, medical issues etc are also higher risk not just overweight people,so you aren't paying for just obese people,your doing the right thing for different groups.

Erm... I didn’t say I can’t exercise. Yesterday I exercised for a fast walk with the dog for an hour. I was actually defending another poster who was saying that urban parks are very busy (which they absolutely are - you can see breath in the cold air and it is hard to avoid that). I also do YouTube exercise vids at home. I am not in denial. I am fat though. What’s to deny? I went through a premature menopause (40) at a very difficult time in my life. I stacked on weight. I do see that makes me thoroughly worthless in the eyes of quite a lot of people!

smartaboutsugar.co.uk/metabo-law-in-japan/

Post covid the country needs an assessment of the nation's health.
For too long science has made excuses in the form of the addiction model to explain and then excuse behaviour. It's cost us lives and trillions in economic output, future investment and pension funds. It's cost children an education, it's cost people a home and created anxiety across society.

Wake up people, a problem shared is a problem halved, however this weight issue is endemic. The fundamentals are that it's a major factor in the outcome of the pandemic. Society is litterally, creaking at the seams.
Nature has kicked back, we've been warned, loose the weight or loose your life.
If people don't care about their life why should anyone else.....
Get a grip, help yourselves, the information has been out in the public domain for yrs.
We're poisoning ourselves with excessive consumption of junk food provided for us by our food suppliers.

There's a clear divide between the west and the east. We're overweight unhealthy, we've given ourselves a death sentence.

Wake up.

@partyatthepalace Of course I understand weight is a complex issue. I personally gain weight very quickly, and have to eat like a bird and exercise like a demon in order to maintain/lose. I know how complex it is. But what I have trouble with is when people do nothing. I'm mainly thinking about people I know who sit all day, and eat fast food or huge portions and then say they didn't dish the food up or they were too tired to cook. I haven't got a problem with people being overweight (because I am overweight too) but I have a problem with people who won't admit to themselves what damage they are doing. I also believe a person can be a bit fat and a bit fit, the two aren't mutually exclusive. I don't expect everyone to be running a marathon, but a nutritionally poor diet plus a sedentary lifestyle is self neglect, and that makes me sad for anyone who lives that way. Seeing so many die each day in the course of my work was quite depressing at first but I now think that we are all a long time dead and need to get up off our arses and get going to maintain good health where we have it.

Excellent link about Japan @Hrpuffnstuff1

I want to know what happened to Boris's health drive he promised in lockdown1