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Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

The home for all non-political Coronavirus (Covid-19) discussions on The Lemon Fool
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This is the home for all non-political Coronavirus (Covid-19) discussions on The Lemon Fool
feder1
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Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380450

Postby feder1 » January 25th, 2021, 6:11 am

David Warburton MP in a BBC article today thinks that there is a 37% increased risk of death if the BMI is 30 instead of 25.

He said: "In this world of Covid it's incredibly important. We hear that people with a BMI over 30 are supposed to have a 37% greater risk of dying from Covid than those who are not obese."

After getting the virus early last year he hired a personal trainer, made a home gym and his BMI dropped from 40 to 23 after working hard at getting fit. The weight loss just happened.

Why is the government not going all out to pursue this avenue to educate and reduce deaths?

Mike4
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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380453

Postby Mike4 » January 25th, 2021, 6:44 am

feder1 wrote:David Warburton MP in a BBC article today thinks that there is a 37% increased risk of death if the BMI is 30 instead of 25.

He said: "In this world of Covid it's incredibly important. We hear that people with a BMI over 30 are supposed to have a 37% greater risk of dying from Covid than those who are not obese."

After getting the virus early last year he hired a personal trainer, made a home gym and his BMI dropped from 40 to 23 after working hard at getting fit. The weight loss just happened.

Why is the government not going all out to pursue this avenue to educate and reduce deaths?


Because the government is addicted to evidence, i.e. incontrovertible proof from long winded double blind trials before even considering taking action. Yet in a pandemic, making quick decisions based on partial information which sometimes turn out to be wrong, is far better than doing nothing but waiting for gold standard evidence.

We still tend to to confuse absence of proof of an effect with proof of absence of the effect.

There is a long list of things we refused to do which might well have helped with the pandemic but failed to do because the gold standard proof is not there, and look where that has got us.

Closing borders
Vitamin D
Masks
Lock down harder and sooner, to release sooner
Ventilate buildings
Compensate people for isolating/quarantining
Effectively policing of quarantining
Closing schools
Evening curfew

As a brief list, without thinking too carefully about it.


(Edit to unscramble a sentence.)

johnhemming
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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380459

Postby johnhemming » January 25th, 2021, 7:23 am

feder1 wrote:Why is the government not going all out to pursue this avenue to educate and reduce deaths?

I think the government have been suggesting to people that being overweight is not a good idea for a long time.

I decided in August last year that being obese was not sensible in part because of the impact of adipose cells on the metabolism of vitamin D and in part because of the risk of type 2 diabetes. I had not previously been persuaded by government arguments because they were too simplistic. Hence I have lost about 35kg (5 1/2 stone), but mainly through eating less not through exercise.

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380460

Postby Dod101 » January 25th, 2021, 7:26 am

I am not getting at Mike4 particularly but it is amazing the number of people who have all sorts of solutions to the Covid situation. All that Mike suggests may well have helped but the fact of the matter is that in almost a year now most of the available manpower seems to have been flat out in dealing with Covid. I have no doubt there are lots of things, which in retrospect might have helped but it is so easy to be wise after the event. One reason why I tend to avoid these threads.

Dod

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380467

Postby redsturgeon » January 25th, 2021, 8:07 am

Weight loss reduces death full stop...if you are obese. This has been well known for many years and there have been major campaigns to get this message across...not with the greatest success. It is not an easy problem to solve.

John

feder1
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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380468

Postby feder1 » January 25th, 2021, 8:20 am

redsturgeon:

Surely it,s easier to persuade and enable weight loss in overly obese people than fight a devastating pandemic?

Which challenge would you rather tackle?

swill453
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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380469

Postby swill453 » January 25th, 2021, 8:27 am

feder1 wrote:Surely it,s easier to persuade and enable weight loss in overly obese people than fight a devastating pandemic?

Which challenge would you rather tackle?

If it's an either/or question, I'll take the option that saves 200,000 lives.

(Hint: not the slimming one.)

Scott.

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380471

Postby Adamski » January 25th, 2021, 8:43 am

feder1 wrote:Why is the government not going all out to pursue this avenue to educate and reduce deaths?


About two thirds of people are overweight, and one third obese. So the govt isn't going to upset those voters but telling them home truths. All so being far has been normalised. So with the lockdown we've had a year of people sitting in their [expletive deleted] eating takeaways putting on weight! And most people criticising joggers and cyclists for breathing! and using the paths!

An opposite strategy would be closing takeaways and encouraging maximum exercise, would have helped people, but probably be so unpopular wouldn't happen.

redsturgeon
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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380472

Postby redsturgeon » January 25th, 2021, 8:49 am

feder1 wrote:redsturgeon:

Surely it,s easier to persuade and enable weight loss in overly obese people than fight a devastating pandemic?

Which challenge would you rather tackle?



I know which I'd rather tackle and it is not obesity.

But tackling obesity is not easy.

John

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380474

Postby Bubblesofearth » January 25th, 2021, 8:50 am

swill453 wrote:
feder1 wrote:Surely it,s easier to persuade and enable weight loss in overly obese people than fight a devastating pandemic?

Which challenge would you rather tackle?

If it's an either/or question, I'll take the option that saves 200,000 lives.

(Hint: not the slimming one.)

Scott.


You sure about that;

https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in- ... on-obesity

That's every year for obesity not once in 100 years for a pandemic.

Obesity, and related type 2 diabetes, was flagged by the medical profession as a major complication for Covid very early on, pretty much as early as age was indicated. Just not a very popular political target.

BoE

feder1
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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380477

Postby feder1 » January 25th, 2021, 9:01 am

Which type of government do we need right now?

I don.t think this one has made many friends.

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380478

Postby jfgw » January 25th, 2021, 9:04 am

johnhemming wrote:I think the government have been suggesting to people that being overweight is not a good idea for a long time.

So did I, including in relation to Covid-19.
Bike shops were one of the few types of shop allowed to be open during the first lockdown, then there was the £50 repair voucher scheme and more cycle lanes. Excercise was one of the reasons we were allowed out.


Julian F. G. W.

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380479

Postby XFool » January 25th, 2021, 9:08 am

redsturgeon wrote:
feder1 wrote:redsturgeon:

Surely it,s easier to persuade and enable weight loss in overly obese people than fight a devastating pandemic?

Which challenge would you rather tackle?

I know which I'd rather tackle and it is not obesity.

Me too! I'd start with the joggers and cyclists, breathing and using the paths! :evil:

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380480

Postby Mike4 » January 25th, 2021, 9:09 am

Dod101 wrote:I have no doubt there are lots of things, which in retrospect might have helped but it is so easy to be wise after the event. One reason why I tend to avoid these threads.

Dod


No, most of the measures on my list were common knowledge from previous pandemics and were available to take right from the get-go with this pandemic. We won't be 'wise after the event' and do any of them in the next pandemic either, I predict. Why would we, when we didn't use the knowledge this time?

Instead we will have a public enquiry after the event and claim "lessons will be learned". But they never are.

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380483

Postby moorfield » January 25th, 2021, 9:13 am

feder1 wrote:David Warburton MP in a BBC article today thinks that there is a 37% increased risk of death if the BMI is 30 instead of 25.

He said: "In this world of Covid it's incredibly important. We hear that people with a BMI over 30 are supposed to have a 37% greater risk of dying from Covid than those who are not obese."

After getting the virus early last year he hired a personal trainer, made a home gym and his BMI dropped from 40 to 23 after working hard at getting fit. The weight loss just happened.

Why is the government not going all out to pursue this avenue to educate and reduce deaths?




I have felt for a long time there does need to be a national conversation led by the politicians about the risks of Covid to fatties particularly. I would love to see stats of deaths by BMI group, as well as age group. I think they would be illuminating.

As for myself, I have heeded my own suspicions, and lost a stone already since the summer, ideally another one to go, which would put me back into the BMI "green" zone. I don't particularly want to be carrying excess weight into my 50s if I can help it.

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Re: Weight Loss reduces Death Risk from Covid?

#380493

Postby UncleEbenezer » January 25th, 2021, 9:52 am

feder1 wrote:David Warburton MP in a BBC article today thinks that there is a 37% increased risk of death if the BMI is 30 instead of 25.

He said: "In this world of Covid it's incredibly important. We hear that people with a BMI over 30 are supposed to have a 37% greater risk of dying from Covid than those who are not obese."


Classic howler there, confusing correlation with causation.

After getting the virus early last year he hired a personal trainer, made a home gym and his BMI dropped from 40 to 23 after working hard at getting fit. The weight loss just happened.


So he was fine at 40 (which is pretty extreme), and is preaching about 30 (which isn't). Sounds like a born-again attention-seeker on a soapbox.

jfgw wrote: Bike shops were one of the few types of shop allowed to be open during the first lockdown, then there was the £50 repair voucher scheme and more cycle lanes. Excercise was one of the reasons we were allowed out.


Julian F. G. W.


Did you try to get a £50 voucher? I did. The vouchers were all long-gone. Smelled of hot air. As for exercise more generally, the motivation is much harder when there's nowhere you're allowed cycle to (even a question raised over the PM being spotted a few miles from home).

As regards the OP, correlation is not causation, and the BMIs mentioned there (25-30) are far from the extremes that would flag a medical alarm. Though lockdown has made shopping much harder to plan, so I end up eating (not to mention drinking) more.


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