Thread by @mrc314

What to do about COVID-19 right now …

And for the next COVID, and the next, and the next …

If this sounds like fat shaming to you please note, I cannot help the pertinacious reader.

THREAD

"[I]ncreased bodyweight is the second greatest predictor of hospitalisation and a high risk of death for people suffering from COVID-19. Only old age rates as a higher risk factor.

"The unprecedented economic costs of COVID-19 are largely due to the measures taken to avoid
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the excess hospitalisation and need for treatment of the disease. Reducing one major risk factor, overweight, would have resulted in far less stress on health services and reduced the need to protect those services from being overwhelmed.
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"We show that in those countries where overweight affects only a minority of the adult population, the rates of death from COVID-19 are typically less than one tenth the levels found in countries where overweight affects the majority of adults.
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"We also show that the drivers of overweight – especially high levels of consumption of processed foods – are associated with mortality from COVID-19.
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"Lastly, we show that COVID-19 is not a special case: a number of other respiratory viruses lead to more severe consequences in people living with excess bodyweight, giving good reasons to expect the next pandemic to have similar effects.
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For these reasons we need to recognise overweight as a major risk factor for infectious diseases including respiratory viruses. To prevent pandemic health crises in future requires action now: we call on all readers to support the World Obesity Federation’s call for …
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stronger, more resilient economies that prioritise investment in people’s health."

COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas

–World Obesity Federation 2021

worldobesityday.org/assets/downloa…

In the U.S.

>36% of adults are obese
>67% of adults are overweight

The average person consumes:

19.5kg of industrial seed oil per year (42.9 lbs, ~5.5 GALLONS)

66.2kg of sugar (146 lbs, ~329 cups, nearly one CUP each day)

3.3kg animal fat.

Animal fats aren't making us sick.