Coronavirus, overweight and obesity

An article on 27th April 2020 on Danish national TY and radio broadcaster,  DR, (Danish Broadcasting Corporation), discusses research that shows that the Coronavirus disease is tougher on people who are overweight or obese. 

Twitter coronavirus stepbac method 1100x628
First, we want to say that our thoughts are with all those all over the world in intensive care units and the families of those who have passed. May they remain forever alive in our love and memories. 

Furthermore kindly bear in mind that the goal of the Stepbac method is to help people of any weight to better understand and manage their food and eating habits, so that they can take back control of their eating habits and stay at a healthly and natural weight.

So, back to the article on DR. It mentions that studies of Coronavirus patients from several countries, among them the UK, France and Denmark, indicate that overweight people are more likely to become seriously ill with Covid-19.

A preliminary analysis of coronavirus patients in Hvidovre hospital in Denmark revealed that more than half of all their Covid-19 patients were obese. Figures from France and the UK showed 73 percent of corona patients in ICU intensive care units were severely overweight.

The article also mentions that overweight and obesity weaken the immune system which creates a greater risk when the body is attacked by infectious diseases. 

This connection between overweight and a weakened immune system was already known from research from previous flu epidemics. 

Another point mentioned in the article, is that people with excess weight might respond less well to covid-19 vaccines.

A different article in the Metro UK newspaper on 28th April, led with the headline "Boris Johnson’s coronavirus was made worse ‘as he’s significantly overweight’" and goes on to link severity of covid-19 cases with overweight.

Read the full Metro article here.

Stepbac opinion:

Many articles and studies linking overweight with higher risk when infected with Covid-19 started appearing in the news media in April 2020  

Based on observation and studies of Covid-19 patients the conclusion is, that it's harder for an overweight body to fight the coronavirus. 

The link between overweight and bad health is well documented, but mainstream media is somewhat reluctant to lead with stories that highlight the dangers of overweight, presumably due to recent trends in body positivity which promote overweight and body shape as a choice.

Similar stories linking bad health to overweight have been run many times before and the general response from an largely overweight public is overwhelmingly negative with many people classing it as fat shaming.

In the opinion of Stepbac, the fact that being overweight is a risk for Covid-19 patients is another reason to take back control of one's weight and health.

We welcome articles like this which we feel are the opposite of fat shaming.

Doctors and scientists who conduct this research, and journalists who report on it, are trying to help people to become better equipped to survive infectious lung diseases by informing them of medical facts. They are trying to save lives. It has nothing to do with fat shaming.

Science has shown that an overweight body has a weaker immune system which means it can’t fight the virus as well as a person of a natural body weight can do. 

Diseases like Covid-19 and flu and pnuenomia are respiratory diseases which means they attack the lungs.

In the case of an overweight body, excess belly fat diminishes the effectivness of the diaphragm muscle. In plain language this means that the excess fat on the belly pushes the diaphragm muscle up, so it can't stretch as much. That's not good because the diaphragm is the muscle that makes us able to pump the air into and out of the lungs. 

Another problem for an overweight body is that when the lungs expand they have to push against more chest weight because of excess fat on the chest. You can test this yourself no matter what weight you are.

Press your hand hard against on your chest while breathing. That's what the fat on a chest is doing. Pressure on the chests makes it harder for the lungs to expand and makes it harder to breathe. 

The medical facts are that a body carrying extra weight makes breathing worse and the body will find it harder to fight disease because of a weaker immune system.

To have the best chance to fight infections and viruses and other illness, it’s better to be at a natural and healthy weight.

Stepbac can help you with that. The Stepbac method is a way to understand how the food industry is tricking people into buying and eating too much food.

Stepbac from Overeating is a free ebook that explains everything. Stepbac also offers low cost online courses and talks.

Please contact us for more information or start by reading our free ebook Stepbac from Overeating.

We are giving this book away free throughout 2020 to help people get a better understanding of how they can take a Stepbac to controlling their weight - without misery, diets, gyms or marathons.

Please do yourself a favour and read this book. It's written in plain and simple language with over 40 diagrams.

There's nothing else to buy. It's just free advice on how to control your weight have have a happier and healthier and longer life.

It's not fat shaming - it's food shaming. It's not fat against slim. It's all of us against the food industry.

How to buy paperback or download free ebook edition

“Stepbac® from Overeating“
Download and share FREE ebook edition of “Stepbac from Overeating“ for Ereaders, Kindle and ereader apps, on our free ebook download page. 

The paperback edition of “Stepbac from Overeating“ is available to buy free on Amazon on .com website and a cost price in other Amazon regions.

Paperback edition Amazon.com
Paperback edition Amazon.co.uk

Stepbac® is supported only by donations and we don't make a profit on the paperback edition, so kindly consider making a donation after you have read this book, if you feel it helped you. Thank you.

DISCLAIMER.
Individual results may vary and Stepbac is cognitive behavioural method that requires some willpower from reader.

Copyright © 2020 - All content copyright Stepbac® - unless otherwise stated

#stepbacmethod #freebooks #healthyliving

Related articles
How to boost your immune system
Weight gain during Covid-19 lockdown
Boris Johnson, Covid-19 & overweight
AboutStepbac® method