Why is it that we've been prepared to change our lifestyle so much

[Guidebutton]

to avoid Covid, but we're not prepared to do it to avoid countless other illnesses?

It's really not fat bashing and I do mean "we" but vast numbers have been prepared to take really quite extreme measures to avoid this nastly illness but we're not prepared to eat better, exercise more, drink less etc to avoid other equally nasty illnesses. I think it could be interesting to understand what's behind that.

Well, the types of illnesses caused by mistreating our bodies a) aren’t contagious and b) might not happen for years in the future. The effects of covid are seen immediately.

Because being overweight doesn’t cause loads of people to be admitted to hospital all at the same time.

However, I agree people have an oddly inconsistent view of their own health.

Maybe because with this it's about the vulnerable and the NHS more than for 'me'

I didn't want our ICU staff to have to choose who gets a ventilator and who doesn't due to overwhelming numbers

I think lots of people have addressed their personal health as part of this pandemic, I certainly have just 1lb shy of 4 stone loss so far and I'm on lots of threads on MN and elsewhere that evidence the same in other people.

But yes, the main reason would be that being fat isn't contagious and will not cause the entire world to come to a standstill unlike a global pandemic of an incredibly contagious disease.

Yes I understand the public health policies and why they've had to be more stringent than those to avoid other illnesses, I'm talking about individuals' approach to their own health.

People who have been incredibly anxious and taken all protective measures for a year, but who haven't taken steps to avoid other illnesses.

Because the changes for covid were supposed to be short term. Even if they go on, it won't be more than a year or two. Changing our behaviour permanently is quite different from doing it for a few months temporarily.

And FWIW I'm not scared of covid. If it wasn't mandatory, I wouldn't be prepared to make these sacrifices.

Because our societal infrastructure and governmental messaging has supported it.

Losing weight is really really difficult. Notoriously so, for a whole range of psychological, physiological and societal reasons.

Government propaganda terrifying people basically

@Guidebutton

Yes I understand the public health policies and why they've had to be more stringent than those to avoid other illnesses, I'm talking about individuals' approach to their own health.

People who have been incredibly anxious and taken all protective measures for a year, but who haven't taken steps to avoid other illnesses.

Ah I see what you mean. I think it is partly because the threat from covid is immediate. "You could die of covid next werk" rather than "you could die of obesity related illness in 25 years time"

Also the media and government pushing the message that covid is really dangerous to everyone. Whereas there is no message like "500 people died of lung cancer today" being shouted about every single day.

I think people rely on being vaccinated against the worst known diseases when we’re babies or school age, and there’s not, thankfully, been any novel viruses that have had the same impact as covid.

However, if I can briefly hijack the thread for a health PSA:

When I was 30ish and pregnant, a blood test showed that my immunity to rubella had worn off. I couldn’t get the booster while pregnant, so had to wait until 6 weeks after I’d given birth. That was a bit nerve wracking! So if you’re planning to get pregnant, it’s worth asking your gp for a blood test to check your immunity levels. I thought I was just unlucky, but my doctor said it can occasionally happen.

I agree. We are starting to grasp the risks of things like microplastics (e.g. in reducing fertility) but there is minimal engagement with this issue. With most people it's not even worth getting discussing things like microplastic consumption via normal baby bottles.

Yes, I'm taking about the people who are still scared and saying they're not happy at the prospect of restrictions lifting, not those who have done their bit and followed the rules for the greater good.

The ones who seem really anxious about it, but who don't seem to have been able to take action about other aspects of their health.

Obviously I can become seriously ill at any time, but covid got me to focus on my health as I really don't want it (not vulnerable) but I've had pneumonia twice and very ill with it. Also, in two high contact jobs, one with no ppe.

I'm not overweight (in fact the low end of acceptable), but I've started eating better really making sure I get my five a day, not just having toast for lunch, more freshly cooked meals. I've decided to get myself a bit fitter as well, more hill walks, walking at pace, an extra exercise class (online obviously), the odd bit of toning here and there and riding my bike more. Due to the weather, muddy hill walking and cycling aren't so appealing right now, but I'm really encouraged and doing what I can - can't wait to do more as the weather improves.

Good point Op. How many people will die this year because of health related issues that were avoidable?

Some of the people petrified indoors are worried about covid so take measures to avoid it, but do not take measures to reduce their heightened risk of stroke or heart attack. Equally as terrifying, surely?

I can’t speak for anyone else but from a personal perspective of having two people in my immediate family with various conditions that have the ability to be life threatening long and short term (one could make lifestyle changes now, the other couldn’t but both could have possibly avoided where they are now) the biggest difference with covid is the ability to strike very quickly without any real treatment on offer if you’re hit hard. People think they’ve got time to change with other longer term problems.

That and the overwhelming of hospitals, we simply don’t have enough staff/beds to treat everyone for everything when/if covid peaks and that’s dangerous for everyone and is something I’m very aware of. Illness through covid doesn’t allow to manage a flow of patients in the same way a rise in diabetes diagnoses does, their need is immediate and requires all the resources it needs without room to juggle staffing/environment requirements which pushes the load into other areas.

HalfShrunkMoreToGo - you've done so well. I hope you feel better for it. Be proud of yourself!

I think there was a fear of the unknown - this scary novel virus coming pretty much out of nowhere and putting people in ICU. The horror stories of ventilators and waiting hours for ambulances whilst struggling to breathe.

We thought it was temporary. Measures were introduced softly softly and sort of crept up on us. First lockdown I saw hardly anyone wearing masks, then masks became commonplace, then months later they took a harder line on trying to enforce it. Restrictions here have been more of a slowly tightening grip (or the boiled frog analogy used a lot here) rather than a swift all-in-one blow.

On a smaller scale too, we do take measures to avoid 'immediate' illnesses. If a local takeaway get a 1 star food safety rating or reports on the local fb group of food poisoning, people avoid it. If you get a bad bout of flu or norovirus, you don't really tend to go mixing with others too much when you're likely to be contagious. Kids with chicken pox are kept away from others etc. We're not so conscientious about being healthy to avoid long term diseases we might get 'someday' way in the future.

Because this infection killed 120,000 people in a year. All within weeks of infection. And it is new, so we still don't entirely understand it, which makes it scary. I assume.

Also you need to see the broader stats. If you contracted Covid in the first wave, your risk of dying from it was the same as your risk of death from all other natural causes over the coming year. Heart attacks, all forms of cancer, asthma, stroke, meningitis, flu, pneumonia, diabetes, you name it, would all add up to the same risk as one virus. If we’d all caught it and the NHS hadn’t collapsed, then we’d double the country’s deaths for the year. It really was a different scale of risk to any other single illness.

Because most of us, whether we agree with the government or not, are capable of risk assessment. When the world's governments all sing from the same hymn sheet we mostly take notice and allow our government to dictate the adjustments we will make.

Even the covid deniers, those who loudly state they are done now, people who chose to break some of the rules, didn't break all of them, still maintain some of them.

Social mores are incredibly influential. You can see that in the different reactions across the world.

@PopUpName

Because this infection killed 120,000 people in a year. All within weeks of infection. And it is new, so we still don't entirely understand it, which makes it scary. I assume.

Not true Died with not of many instances Makes a huge difference

If the government ran a year long campaign showing the effects of, for example, obesity, I bet more people would be trying to lose weight.
By which I mean special briefings every day about how many people had died from obesity related diseases, constant news articles about the dangers of obesity, with statistics and graphs, interviews with people in hospital with obesity related disorders, interviews with doctors and nurses about how hard it is to treat obese patients.

Have you seen what covid has done to the world? And that's with restrictions. Wake up.

But yes hopefully people will take more care of their health in their future, whether or not illness is as contagious.

Because the government’s Project Fear was very successful. We accept illnesses which have been around for a long time. 165,000 U.K. cancer deaths every year no longer makes headlines.