Extra Pounds increases your odds of a bad Covid 19 Outcome?

[specialmom]

A warning from the CDC states that being overweight will increase odds of having a poor outcome if you contract corona.  Having 'extra pounds' puts you at risk.  Uh Oh.  I'm in some trouble there.  And I'm in good company as three quarters of the US may be at greater risk because of this.  BMI is one of the measures. AND you are overweight with a BMI of 25 to 19 and obese with a BMI of 30 or more.  I might be like one slice of pie away, I'm afraid.  Obese people are twice as likely to be hospitalized with covid.  We've known the issue with obesity but the overweight, extra pounds threw me off a bit.  That's a lot of people.  SO, are you on a covid diet?  Are you trying to get thinner to help all of your health issues but also to keep strong and safe if you happy to contract covid?  I'm NOT gonna lie. It's another motivating factor to lose some poundage for this cheesecake lover.  

[auntiejessi]

Yep, apparently it's a thing -

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-10-09/being-overweight-may-boost-risk-of-severe-covid-19-cdc-warns

"Adults who are overweight but not quite obese may face an increased risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19, according to new advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The public health agency has long said that people who are obese are more likely to become severely ill if they have a coronavirus infection. The threat posed by being overweight is not as clear, but it was strong enough to be added to to the list of medical conditions that “might” put people at “increased risk for severe illness,” the CDC said."

It's been added to the list of "people who MAY have an increased risk" -https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fneed-extra-precautions%2Fgroups-at-higher-risk.html

Overweight (BMI > 25 kg/m2, but < 30 kg/m2)

[auntiejessi]

Oh and I'm not going to go on a special diet just for this. I already have some risks, so maybe my thinking is different, but I'm going for prevention. If I try my best to avoid getting it, the risks don't matter as much. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. Even people with no risks have had severe disease, so I'm going to control what I can control, and try to not freak about the rest. (Hahaha sure, and that's going really well.)

[specialmom]

Ya, I can see how you are handling it.  I'm motivated just because if I can't prevent getting it, I want to be prepared to do the best I can if I do.  Not very optimistic thinking.  I wear my mask, distance and avoid.  But sadly know people who have done that and STILL get it.  My kids are in school,  I attend a few things here and there that seem necessary, had dental work done, etc.  I exercised more than usual all summer for the same reason.  I figure I wanted to give my lungs a good shot so having them as healthy as I, lazy bones, can make them . . .   would be a good idea.  I also am not sure about my blood pressure, it creeps up.  Exercise and weight maintenance helps me control it.  So all of this factors in as issues with corona and outcomes making me being of a good weight motivating.  I've got more than I'd like to admit to lose though.  

[AnnieBrooke]

At this point I'm just doing well not to gain the "Covid nineteen." (I've managed to avoid gaining weight from my newly sedentary virus-avoiding lifestyle, but haven't lost anything, thanks to the occasional comfort-food binge.) Maybe the threat of being more likely to get the virus if I get fat will help me stay on the straight and narrow. :-P

[Paxiled]

At least it's encouraging to see all those caveats -- "might" and "may" don't sound like this is a proven thing.  It's not that hard for most people to not be obese physically, though psychologically is another thing, but everyone gets somewhat overweight as they age.  It seem this virus can complicate pretty much anything.  Wish we could put this thing back into bats.  I am going to be at high risk when my wife comes back from Iowa, where she has been with her Dad and her family after her Mom died.  That's a hot spot state, and she has nephews in their late 20s I think and those are the people, besides the President's rallies and meat packing plants and the like, that are spreading the virus right now.  But what can you do?  Can't stay hermetically sealed.

[specialmom]

I think it's what they are actually finding and verbiage of might and may is  often used in information like this because there is not a 100 percent guarantee that it will.  It's thought provoking if you are carrying around some extra pounds.  I feel just fine with how I look, my husband still likes me. But health concerns motivate me to take pounds off.  So, I add this to my list of motivating factors to slim down.  I guess the one good thing about my GI issue I"m having is that it is facilitating the slim down.  Ha, I don't know why I found that funny that you will be high risk when your wife returns from her trip, paxiled.  lol  I feel ya.  I also hate how we can do well to lose weight and then our mind tricks us into putting the pounds back on.  My doctor warned me of this.  It's only considered true weight loss medically if you keep it off for 2 years.  She said then she counts it fully.  Otherwise, it's just your current weight.  

[specialmom]

Ha, Annie, gain the covid 19.  I know.  I'm fearing winter coming and being locked in my house.  I've done well exercising but only cuz I could hit the sidewalk.  If I'm locked in the house all winter with my refrigerator, it's bad.    

[Paxiled]

Don't know where you live, Mom, but I've never understood why winter so deters people on here from exercising outdoors.  You put on more clothing and you keep moving.  You get warm, and even start to sweat, and then you're home again.  I've always exercised outdoors when I was able, in the rain, snow, and I even bought these springs to put on my shoes when there was ice.  I actually prefer the winter, because I don't have to do yardwork and there are no mosquitoes.  Of course, now it's hard to say we really have winter anymore where I live.  Stopped snowing much a few years ago.  Fall starts in July and ends in the spring.  Climate change has made yardwork a year round endeavor, and my body can't take that.  When it's really cold I put on the long underwear.  I guess we're all different, my wife does not like the cold and she gets cold easily whereas I at least used to be pretty warm most of the time.  I think it's all just getting used to it and knowing when you get warmed up you're fine.  The hardest part is having to strip off clothes as you warm up, which I don't like, so I even dress light even in winter because it might be cold at first but then the heart gets pumping and you're warm.  I'd say, don't let it be an impediment, enjoy the challenge, and feel good about yourself when you've done it.  Bring out that inner hunter-gatherer.  The thing about my wife isn't funny to me, Mom.  It's scary.  She's back now, and you don't wear a mask around your wife.  I can't say life is worth living for me anymore, but I definitely don't want to go the covid way.  Want to go like my wife's Mom, in my sleep.  She went to take a nap and never woke up.  That's the way to go.  Peace, all.

[Paxiled]

I haven't heard this.  I've only heard of obesity being a problem.  This was discussed ad nauseum with Trump's illness. as he is obese by any measure.  All the experts I saw interviewed mentioned his obesity, not just being overweight.  Maybe this is a thing but if it is I haven't heard it mentioned.  And just being obese doesn't guarantee a terrible outcome -- again, look at Trump and the even much more obese Chris Christie.  Both appear to be doing fine, though we don't know the accuracy of what Trump says we can better trust Christie and he also just got released from hospital.  Not to dissuade the losing of weight, but we don't want to scare people to death, either.  Anyone else out there hear this?