Obesity one of the reasons the UK death rate so high?

[Baileysforchristmas]

I know it’s the Daily fail and it’s not a brilliant article but I wonder if this one of the reasons our death rate is so high?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9282619/Obesity-link-UK-Covid-toll-Britains-status-sick-man-Europe-led-deaths.html

Is this some new research? I thought this had been known for a while, even anecdotally it was quite clear from the start of the pandemic that being obese is a high risk factor?

I think we know this & age is also a big factor

Overall health is important. The UK isn't known for prioritising health in general. Diet, sleep, exercise, toxins (alcohol, smoking, junk food, pollution) etc all matter.

stress

I don't think it's news that the UK has a high obesity rate relative to other European countries, nor that obesity is a risk factor for Covid.

Putting the two together gives an obvious correlation, but other factors need to be considered too - our population density, our climate, the lack of NHS resources and (possibly controversial) the fact we aren't great as a country at sticking to rules.

I think it's more the case that the UK ticks a lot of risk boxes than that any one factor is to be blame.

@LApprentiSorcier totally agree, especially the following rules bit.

@LApprentiSorcier

I don't think it's news that the UK has a high obesity rate relative to other European countries, nor that obesity is a risk factor for Covid.

Putting the two together gives an obvious correlation, but other factors need to be considered too - our population density, our climate, the lack of NHS resources and (possibly controversial) the fact we aren't great as a country at sticking to rules.

I think it's more the case that the UK ticks a lot of risk boxes than that any one factor is to be blame.

The studies on why we've suffered so badly are going to be very interesting in the years to come. It can't be one single thing as there's no characteristic that is unique to the UK.

Maybe it will turn out to a perfect storm of all the risk factors.

Yep, age and obesity

I would say so. Look at South Africa, there excess mortality has been massive as well and they have a huge (pun not intended) obesity problem with lots of attendent T2 diabetes and hypertension in the population.

I think it's interesting that Japan has a very low death rate. I think around 7,000 deaths, despite having a high population density and high proportion of elderly. It does have a much lower rate of obesity.

However, I'm not sure that I agree that The UK has an excellent health system. I feel that in Japan, people are much quicker to seek medical help in the early stages, whereas in the UK, people avoid seeing a doctor or going to hospital unless their condition has deteriorated considerably. I can't help but wonder if it's the delay in seeking medical help that has been a factor in UK deaths.

I remember when it was just the Americans known as being an obese nation and over the past 30 years we've increasingly become more and more like them. The foods we have available to us instantly now compared to say in the 80s is insane. High sugar calorie overload and it's all very well having diet advice and healthy eating plans constantly publicised but with the level of temptation so readily available it's so so difficult for so many (wanting to comfort eat). Everything we hear is down to us, reduce our plastics (when all the shops sell is plastic packaging) and supermarkets full of crap. It's really not down to the general public, it's down to the huge supermarket chains and manufacturers..... but hey profit before health. Health before economy (not for all hey).

I think Brits are generally fairly good at following rules, far more so than Southern Europeans or the French (perhaps less so than Germany, Scandinavia etc), based on personal experience of living in various EU countries. However, in Britain lots of rules have at various points been framed as advice, whereas in (culturally less rule-following countries) European countries rules were very strictly implemented through police checks, forms, fines etc.

I agree with the PP’s comments about preventative healthcare - this is also emphasised more in some European countries, where frequent check-ups, blood tests etc are normal rather than the British way of only seeking help once a problem is bad. That contributes to better health overall, and to a culture of seeking medical help quickly when ill, both of which could be factors.

However, in Britain lots of rules have at various points been framed as advice, whereas in (culturally less rule-following countries) European countries rules were very strictly implemented

Yes, that's a fair point. Some rules have also been quite vague - e.g. all the stuff about exercising locally, which just encourages people to stretch the rules. And there always seems to be a delay implementing them, and/or they are leaked by the press - so people rush to do the thing that's going to be banned in a week's time, which is counterproductive.

It's a common misconception that the UK has the highest obesity rates in Europe, in fact Turkey and Malta rank ahead of us, and several other countries aren't really far behind us
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_obesity_rate
So it's unlikely to be the only reason for our very high death rates.

As others have said, the UK has some of the highest figures for obesity (and the additional health problems that causes, many of which in turn put the person at a higher risk of fatality if they catch Covid...)

The UK population density isn't nearly as high as many think, not even London, and due to a generally fairly unhealthy population, sadly, life expectancy is not as high as many other countries.

Factor in the refusal to follow the gobbledegook rules and recommendations and it was a perfect storm.

Yes of course obesity is a key reason. The Times had an article some weeks ago about younger people (under 50s) who had died of covid. Other than one young lady of 21 who was slim, they were all overweight, some very significantly.

Is there any actual evidence we don’t stick to rules compared with other countries or is this just something you believe?

The UK does have an older and more overweight population than many countries, we know this.

This is likely to be a reason for some of the excess deaths compared to other nations, but trying to quantify that against the general background idiocy of eat out to help out, 'air bridges' and other top notch government wheezes will be difficult.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

Is there any actual evidence we don’t stick to rules compared with other countries or is this just something you believe?

Probably no evidence, to be fair - just an opinion I've seen from various journalists.

@Oly4

Yep, age and obesity

The ICUDoc on here mentioned obesity, diabetes and hypertension

Well, if Mumsnet can be cited as evidence, with all the threads encouraging others to break the rules and then others stating "I'm not going to..." Plus the mask refusers, then I'd say so.

@Lockheart

The UK does have an older and more overweight population than many countries, we know this.

This is likely to be a reason for some of the excess deaths compared to other nations, but trying to quantify that against the general background idiocy of eat out to help out, 'air bridges' and other top notch government wheezes will be difficult.

Exactly- perfect storm. Coming up with over complicated rules to start with when only 2 were ever needed:

SD
Masks

And then confusing people by chopping and changing before the whole eating out debacle. I can meet my Dad but only in Pizza Hut? Eh? Ridiculous.

I don't think it was failure to follow the rules so much as the rules were implemented late and weren't that strict compared to many other countries. Then we got ourselves into a mess with relaxing rules, followed by a very infectious new variant and ended up with many more people dying.

Obesity
Boris
Greedy rich people/ companies
Lack of mitigation in schools

We have left all parents and teachers exposed while fining those that dont attend
Lies about safe schools so GP continue visiting
Schools not shutting at least 10d before xmas

But it is quite shocking we have vaxxed 25% but arent even down to the 50yo yet. So 1/4 are either nhs or care or 60+.
Maybe we need to reconsider where a healthy weight/bmi is. As i think some ethnicities need to be on the lower end of normal to avoid issues.
It is also pretty rubbish that say asthmatics wont be vaxxed but how many people have we vaxxed 40+ bmi.
We also need to look at obesity in kids as it can be a risk factor for them too.
It may well be that uk diet being so short of vitamins has left contributed as things like vit d affect blood sugar.
Uk and usa attitude to covid you can see why we are all so overweight as it's all about profit for companies.