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Original poster

‘Healthy’ but overweight?

411 replies

bumbleymummy · 27/01/2021 23:39

Ok, I know this is a sensitive subject and I’m really not trying to upset or offend anyone. I just think it’s misleading when people say things like ‘ICU is filled with healthy under 60s’ or talk about a ‘healthy 40- something’ passing away and it turns out that person/a high proportion of those patients are very overweight. Are people who are clearly overweight actually ‘healthy’? I know it’s not the same as an underlying condition like diabetes or heart disease but we know that a high bmi puts people at greater risk of complications from coronavirus.

Before someone jumps on me, I’m not saying that someone’s life is of less value because they are overweight or have an underlying health condition. I’m just wondering if it’s accurate to say that they are ‘healthy’ when we are reporting figures and talking about risk.

OP posts:
Ddot · 30/01/2021 10:28

My brother was informed by doctor he was obese. He is very slim, walks everywhere, eats well. Turns out doctor had someone else's notes. Didnt bother to look at him, if he had it would have been bloody obvious.

ginghamstarfish · 30/01/2021 10:44

I do think it would be beneficial, in the long run, for the media to state when younger Covid victims were significantly overweight. It could be the impetus for some to get down to it and change things. I thought it was good that Boris Johnson publicly stated that his being overweight had a bearing on how ill he was, we need more of this.

Bluebolt · 30/01/2021 10:53

Being obese especially morbidly is complex and becomes a difficult conversation, it becomes even a more difficult conversation when overweight, bmi, and rugby players/weight lifters get brought into the discussion. My DM was 5ft and twenty stone and was quite active until middle age and the years of abuse of her body caught up with her. She never gained weight till her 30s on anti depressants. My uncle lost his lower leg due to type two diabetes and both my nieces look at being household before they are 40. we now have children, teenagers and young adults who are facing years of carrying weight their body is not designed for without getting into the complications of covid.

ElliFAntspoo · 30/01/2021 10:56

@ginghamstarfish

I do think it would be beneficial, in the long run, for the media to state when younger Covid victims were significantly overweight. It could be the impetus for some to get down to it and change things. I thought it was good that Boris Johnson publicly stated that his being overweight had a bearing on how ill he was, we need more of this.
Well, if you are going to permit disclosures such as that, then why not ethnicity also? You also then would need to differentiate between a person who was stabbed in the street but had a Covid positive test in the last 28 days, a person that was involved in a car accident, a person that fell of a ladder, a person who took a drug overdose, a person who was murdered by their spouse, and a person who was hospitalised with Covid and died in ICU. At the moment all deaths from all causes are recorded as Covid deaths if they tested Covid positive in the last 28 days.

So why you would fixate on one arbitrary made up statistic and exploit is when all the information you can get your hands on is spurious at best, and false at worst, is beyond me.

LApprentiSorcier · 30/01/2021 10:59

@Ddot

My brother was informed by doctor he was obese. He is very slim, walks everywhere, eats well. Turns out doctor had someone else's notes. Didnt bother to look at him, if he had it would have been bloody obvious.
They are conditioned to people being overweight. My husband is underweight - he's 5'8 and weighs 7.5 stone (has been like this all his adult life). He had a problem with water retention earlier in the year and gained about 7lb (his legs swelled up) and this was being investigated. He mentioned to one of the doctors over the phone that he'd 'gained half a stone' The doctor said immediately 'try to lose some weight'. At 8 stone and 5'8 his BMI was less than 17.
Amaksy · 30/01/2021 11:07

Weight is not a marker of health and bearing in mind the standard BMI isn’t inclusive of ethnicity there’s no real marker here. I’ve had Zumba and swimming lessons from instructors I thought looked overweight but they’re fit and healthy.

Localocal · 31/01/2021 10:17

So much ignorance. Yes, you can be healthy and overweight. Educate yourself with facts before you spout off.

Susan1961 · 31/01/2021 15:50

Being overweight now seems to be the new normal.

Ddot · 31/01/2021 17:18

Loose weight, take vitamin D and hope for the bloody best

ElliFAntspoo · 31/01/2021 20:16

How much Vitamin D?
10mg (400IU) as recommended by the NHS?
After all, they are the people who know best.

LetItGoGo · 31/01/2021 20:26

Well now..

Ddot · 31/01/2021 21:19

Good to take vit D in winter months.
Summer, get out for 15 to 20min per day, bare arms or shorts.

ElliFAntspoo · 01/02/2021 12:26

Why isn't everyone taking vitamin D supplements every day? Because the NHS won't tell you anything they are not told to tell you, and you can't make money selling unpatented vitamins. Why is no research done into prophylactic medication? Because you cannot make money out of medication you do not own a patent to.

Ddot · 01/02/2021 14:54

If the vit D doesn't actually do any good, I've only lost a few pound, got it in the penny sale. 😉

Original poster
bumbleymummy · 01/02/2021 15:03

The government are offering free vitamin D to CEV people

www.gov.uk/government/publications/vitamin-d-for-vulnerable-groups/vitamin-d-and-clinically-extremely-vulnerable-cev-guidance

OP posts:
SomersetHamlyn · 01/02/2021 16:32

@Puzzler333

My lifestyle is currently healthy. I assure you. I wouldn't be in for any kind of shock if I wrote down everything that went into my mouth. I know that my calories in are much less than my theoretical calories out.

Then you're measuring something wrong. As you say, 'theoretical' calories out. Clearly you don't need as many calories as you think you do.

Ddot · 01/02/2021 17:54

You cant put on weight if you eat less than you burn. Water retention maybe but that's it

ElliFAntspoo · 01/02/2021 21:07

@Ddot

You cant put on weight if you eat less than you burn. Water retention maybe but that's it
That's hard to do when you're addicted to sugar and caffeine, but you are spot on with the math.
ElliFAntspoo · 01/02/2021 21:08

[quote SomersetHamlyn]@Puzzler333

My lifestyle is currently healthy. I assure you. I wouldn't be in for any kind of shock if I wrote down everything that went into my mouth. I know that my calories in are much less than my theoretical calories out.

Then you're measuring something wrong. As you say, 'theoretical' calories out. Clearly you don't need as many calories as you think you do.[/quote]
we live in a country where 2 out of 3 of us don't needs the amount of food they think they do.

Oysterbabe · 01/02/2021 22:05

I was thinking the other day about Grace Victory. She's a popular instagramer in case you don't know who she is. She's a very large woman and is all about being body positive and being happy with how you are. I like her a lot.
She caught Coronavirus, had to deliver her baby 2 months early and has been in a coma for a month now. She's a young woman and if she'd been a healthy weight then more likely than not she would not have suffered severe complications.
We shouldn't be dancing around this through fear of causing offence, if you are overweight the risks are much, much higher.

Bluebolt · 01/02/2021 22:24

I think part of the problem is it seems more polite to say overweight when really meaning obese and morbidly obese. Being healthy and overweight is possible. Being morbidly obese is not only unhealthy it is also more difficult to change your life around. Like everything else there is no short term fix and has been the last two decades if not more in the making in the UK society. But is it keeps getting silenced a new generation of obese children get caught in the cycle.

ElliFAntspoo · 01/02/2021 22:33

Absolutely, but the vast majority of people who are fat find it difficult to take responsibility for their overeating and look for excuses and people to blame. They know that what they buy is bad for them, they know what it is full of sh!t designed to make them addicted, they may even acknowledge that the addiction exists and they are hooked, which is a first positive step. But the majority are of the 'its not my fault' brigade. The only difference now is they stand a horrendously higher chance of ending up dead and orphaning their kids.

But, and addiction is an addiction, and processed sugars and their derivatives should be taxed as highly as tobacco. But they won't be of course, because there are too many people getting rich off the backs of them and they are free to choose, so if they wish to take the chance that they'll die wheezing alone and in isolation, leave them free to choose to take the risk.

I'm sure their kids will stay healthy if they lose a parent to Covid and an obesity complication, the same way you never smoke or drink if your parents died of those habits.

ElliFAntspoo · 01/02/2021 22:40

@Bluebolt

I think part of the problem is it seems more polite to say overweight when really meaning obese and morbidly obese. Being healthy and overweight is possible. Being morbidly obese is not only unhealthy it is also more difficult to change your life around. Like everything else there is no short term fix and has been the last two decades if not more in the making in the UK society. But is it keeps getting silenced a new generation of obese children get caught in the cycle.
I can't be bothered pandering to peoples preferences for flowery language. I'm not PC and don't give a F about wokers. I call it as I see it.

There is no short term fix. Most struggle and never over come it because once you are fat, age begins to work against you, and once you are obese you mobility begins to work against you, and once your organs begin to fail, or you become diabetic, you open the door to endless problems, constant tests and medications.

The only successes I know of are those with horrendous willpower, or those with life changing medical shock. Eight weeks in an induced coma on a ventilator really helps the weight fall off, as does abject poverty. Left to their own devices with no external influencing factor, it is a much harder struggle for most.

PeggyHill · 02/02/2021 04:55

I think part of the problem is it seems more polite to say overweight when really meaning obese and morbidly obese

I'd agree with this. You could have a BMI of 26 which would technically make you overweight, but depending on your build and lifestyle you could well be quite active and physically fit. It also isn't likely to lead to any of the health problems associated with obesity.

Calling someone with a BMI of, say, 37, overweight, is incorrect. They are obese and are at high risk of developing a lot of health problems from it. They are simply not healthy and they won't have any chance of becoming healthy until they have lost a lot of weight.

These two people would be poles apart in terms of lifestyle and health.