I know someone who is obese who almost died. The ventilator was not working. Had to go on ECMO. Almost didn't make it. Is an actual walking miracle now.

I worked hard to loose those last few pounds to bring my BMI under 25. If I hadn't, I'd have landed in Covid vaccination group 1b, and could have signed up for a jab already. But no, I'm not quite old enough and no longer quite fat enough, so I gotta wait! How ironic.

I would hope that this would be a wake up call for the high obesity rate in this country to drop substantially.

This website is eye opening https://ourworldindata.org/obesity

There are also maps that compare that level obesity by years

No surprise as obesity also comes with the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.

Hang tight Nickel. Good for you for reaching a more healthy weight.

They say even a 10% weight loss that is maintained has a huge health benefit.

Did anyone notice the last paragraph? It states what I have been posting about then being blasted because no one should be overweight.

"The B.M.I. range associated with the best outcomes, the researchers found, was near the dividing line between what is considered healthy and overweight, consistent with some prior research suggesting that a few extra pounds might help protect people when they contract an infectious disease."

maifleur, I have read a number of places that it's better to be healthy weight or a little over as it gives the body more resources to draw on if hit with a serious illness. Of course the majority of Americans I suspect need not worry about being underweight. Last I saw it was 2/3 are overweight or obese.

I don't believe there's any one answer as to why this virus affects some people so adversely and not others. I know people who had Covid, are grossly overweight , and never got very sick. On the other hand, my DIL's cousin who is slim and trim, is on a ventilator, and may not make it.

I believe obesity was officially defined as (illness?) -- I forget where I read it. This is a number one health problem especially in the US. Nevertheless, it is simply ignored by the health experts. There should be a commission on this and a program to address the reasons for it. One reason is processed food consumption. Without cracking down on food producers there are other ways to approach it, through doctors, schools. But I'd say not just talk and publicity. I mean real information and motivating programs.

A commission and a program will do nothing to reduce obesity, you choose what & how much you eat and how much time you spend exercising, this is an individual problem. I'm hypothyroid and could easily be obese - but I chose to eat small meals and exercise hard to keep my weight down.

If it was that simple, Raye, there wouldn’t be a problem. It isn’t just a matter of willpower.

Woodrose, knowing two examples which illustrate the opposite of the research findings doesn’t disprove them. It’s a question of statistics of a mass of data, not single cases.

Many people in the higher BMI range (used to be called "morbidly obese") in addition to the above mentioned co-morbidities, also have obstructive sleep apnea or OSA. Not everyone that has OSA is obese, but most highly obese patients have OSA. Sleep apnea is very destructive, contributing to heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, atrial fibrillation. Also, the physical act of mechanical ventilation is more difficult and the lungs have less reserve due to the weight that pushes on them.

There are so many diseases that can cripple and kill you. Diseases you have no control over. Obesity is not one of those- sure there are a million excuses, and genuine extenuating circumstances, but in the end, it is calories in and calories out. Think how happy a cancer patient would be to be told all he had to do was eat less and he would recover his health, as opposed to suffer through treatments and hope for the best. We do no favors to anyone by robbing them of their agency.

I believe obesity is considered a disease nowadays.

Once a person becomes morbidly obese, it becomes much more difficult to simply eat less & exercise to lose weight. Exercising and movement in general becomes more difficult. Sometimes, the weight is gained because of mobility issues, or other medical conditions and medications for them.

Extra weight definitely puts more stress on the body. I've noticed people with obesity seem to have more circulatory, cardiac, & pulmonary issues too.

I will not judge obese people. It's tempting but I know too many. There are elements of addiction and loneliness for many. Our way of life where exercise has to be done in a gym. Good for you, Raye, you are keeping your weight down. I don't judge the world by my own life. My paternal family tend to obesity. My maternal side is wirey and slim. I take after the maternal side. My siblings after the paternal. I could eat any amount of food and would gain but never look fat. I also have many obese friends who have never been able to maintain a healthy weight. There is more going on here than calories in calories out.

Healthy exercise/habits do not have to be done in a gym!

People are wired differently. I struggle with my weight and I think about food all the time. My ex-husband never thinks about food, eats only when he's hungry and doesn't care at all what he's eating. He's thin and I'm overweight.

Binge eating is just as much of an eating disorder as anorexia or bulimia but people don't really take it seriously. "Just eat less and exercise more" is about as effective as telling anorexics to eat more or bulimics to stop throwing up. It's more complicated than that. My doctor told me that it's very common for childhood abuse survivors to become obese as a subconscious defense mechanism.

Here in Utah they just made it so anyone with a BMI of 30+ can get the vaccine because of the link between obesity and deaths. 30 BMI is the very beginning of the obese category.

Wondering if anyone of the Yea Low BMI have stopped to consider that athletes of all types tend to have a high BMI and it is not because they are fat but because muscle weighs more. BMI is strictly another method of measurement developed according to a story I was reading this morning for life insurance but it did not take into account healthy individuals who exercised.

I posted this article here not to get into judgment of peoples' weights or diets, but just as a cautionary note. There's little we know about this disease in terms of who is or isn't significantly affected. We know that age and weight are 2 factors for which there is a strong positive correlation, but we can only address one of them....the other is a given.

Obesity makes almost every illness worse and harder to recover from.

Floral_uk, I know of six overweight people who have had Covid-19 and only two of them had to be hospitalized and receive supplemental oxygen ( not ventilator). The point I was trying to make was that no one has an exact answer for why the effects of this virus can range from no symptoms to severe symptoms and even death.

I wouldn't put much faith in data gathered by one doctor and "her colleagues". It doesn't appear to be a very scientific study.

@woodrose, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7010e4.htm

Think how happy a cancer patient would be to be told all he had to do was eat less and he would recover his health,

We could say that to alcoholics and dope addicts as well, just stop your drinking and doping. Not. It is not that easy. I think people should be supported for trying but I don't think anyone should be shamed for failing.

To acknowledge a person has control over their weight is not shaming, to my mind, it is empowering. There are many doctors out there ready to help anyone who needs help learning how to eat properly. Just like there are doctors who specialize in helping people cope with quitting smoking, drinking, doing drugs. There are also 12 Step programs. Acknowledging a problem is far from shaming.

I don't know, I think it's overly simplified to think the answer is to teach obese people how to eat properly. I'm overweight and I know what I should be eating, and I bet the vast majority of obese people know HOW to lose weight. But knowing and doing are completely different things, and if people had the willpower to stick to a doctor-designed weight loss program, there would be no overweight people.

Chi, I just wrote a long reply and I accidentally deleted it when I went to make a small addition. Aaargh.

Of course there can be complicated reasons why a person eats too much. He or she could be using food as a source of comfort or entertainment (that's me,) and addressing the root cause of what the problem is necessary in order to get better. The consequences of even a small amount of extra weight on our joints as we age, for example, can have so much effect on how we age, our ability to keep moving, exercise and stay fit, that it is imperative to be vigilant.

There are very successful medical interventions to help people shed weight, gastric band surgery, for one (truthfully, only one I know, though I am hearing of some new medicine.) A friend of mine had this procedure and she is thrilled three years out from surgery. There was support to help her keep the pounds off too.

Another friend dropped 20 pounds simply by going to therapy. She said she lost both physical and psychological weight.

Between regular medical care, bariatric medical care, psychological help, 12 step programs, programs like WW, people may have to try a lot of modalities for getting bettter.

“one doctor and "her colleagues". Doesn’t characterise the research team very well at all. ”It doesn't appear to be a very scientific study.” How do you reach that conclusion? I’m sure you read the research paper, which can be reached via the link, so you’ll know it was a ten month study conducted on 150,000 people by a team of scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I’m not sure how much more scientific a study could get. Btw 2 out of 6 is one third hospitalised. Do you have another sample of six non overweight people who caught Covid? Do you know how many were hospitalised? If not, how can you tell that 2/3 is a lie fraction? Anecdotes don’t make good statistics.

Of course a person has to want to lose weight. My older brother is obese. He knows it. His doctors know it. Everyone knows it. But food is their life, their hobby, their entertainment. They love good food, good wine, good spirits. They cook a LOT, don't eat processed foods much. When they travel (pre covid), they attend art exhibits and seek out new places to eat. When they're planning a trip, they research fine restaurants.

He knows HOW to lose weight. He doesn't WANT to. For him, it's not worth the loss of one of his greatest enjoyments.

And he says that his vital statistics are within reasonable ranges. And his wife is thin.

To acknowledge a person has control over their weight

My point is that some do not have control over their addictions, whatever they may be. . Since you mentioned the 12 steps, the very first phrase in the first step:

We admitted we were powerless

My daughter is considered "obese". She's not super duper obese, but she is overweight. She had a very mild case of Covid. She also has compromised lungs, which I've mentioned in other threads. Yet when she had Covid she said her lungs felt "oily" and "heavy" unlike when her asthma is affecting her and she's wheezy and coughing up a storm.

I think scientists are grasping at straws still when it comes to this virus. Nobody really knows why it affects one person but not the next. Remember, my son in law lives with my daughter yet tested negative. Why didn't he get it? A lady at work is well within her weight, yet she got it. Not her husband.

Some people take Vit D and C and Zinc and get it. Others eat a very poor diet and don't. Some people wash their hands 200x a day and get it, others don't wash their hands and don't get it.

Some people lose their smell and taste. Some don't. Some get both back. Others don't.

It's a very odd virus with 100's of symptoms and has no rhyme or reason.

Re wanting to lose weight, it was years ago when John Bradshaw was popular and he said how many obese people he counseled had experienced sexual abuse and they actually build physical armor in defense against further abuse. I thought it an interesting take.

Food addicts need help. A dear friend was saved by a doctor who asked her, "What's eating you," and went on to help her discover WHY.