Tag Archives: Obesity

Threats, by Scott Galloway

Often times the biggest dangers turn out to be things very few people are thinking about. From Scott Galloway at profgalloway.com:

In February 1946, President Truman directed his intelligence apparatus to prepare a daily summary of critical national security issues. The President’s Daily Brief (“PDB”) has been produced ever since, and those that have been made public illustrate the breadth and complexity of the threats facing our nation. For example, in 1962, while President Kennedy dealt with the risk of Soviet nuclear weapons being stationed 200 miles off Miami, his PDB also alerted him to chaos in the Saudi and Congolese governments, Khrushchev’s plans for a “major reorganization” in the USSR, worsening tensions between Laos and North Vietnam, and a destabilizing student protest in South Korea.

The U.S. has survived for 250 years in part because its leaders have worried about, fortified against, and repelled a wide range of emerging threats. Many threats are obvious and popularly understood; however, many others are self-inflicted, uncomfortable to acknowledge, or come hidden under the guise of opportunity. These threats can register the greatest damage, as fewer defensive measures have been taken against them. In sum, it’s productive to worry about things that others (e.g., the media, colleagues) do not.

Below are the threats that I believe to be most present and not clear.

Continue reading→

How Government Subsidizes Obesity, by Barry Brownstein

The government pays out a lot of money to make us fat (I’m munching on a tortilla chip right now). One of the most quietly disguised facts of the coronavirus outbreak is that obesity is a major comorbidity. If the government could somehow make obese people exercise an hour a day, it would be far more effective than masks and lockdowns. From Barry Brownstein at aier.org:

Austrian mathematician Abraham Wald was a World War II hero. He worked out of a nondescript apartment building in Harlem for the Applied Mathematics Panel. Wald’s ability to see the unseen was a significant factor in the Allied victory in World War II.

Allied bomber planes were being shot down at such an alarming rate that bomber airmen were called “ghosts already.” The Air Force concluded that more armor was needed on the planes but adding armor would add weight. David McRaney, the author of several books on cognitive biases, tells the story of how Wald saved the military from a major blunder:

“The military looked at the bombers that had returned from enemy territory. They recorded where those planes had taken the most damage. Over and over again, they saw that the bullet holes tended to accumulate along the wings, around the tail gunner, and down the center of the body. Wings. Body. Tail gunner. Considering this information, where would you put the extra armor? Naturally, the commanders wanted to put the thicker protection where they could clearly see the most damage, where the holes clustered. But Wald said no, that would be precisely the wrong decision. Putting the armor there wouldn’t improve their chances at all.”

Wald looked at the same bullet holes and saw a pattern revealing “where a bomber could be shot and still survive the flight home.”

Continue reading→ 

Lockdowns Worsen the Health Crisis, by Kiley Holliday and Jenin Younes

Locked in your domicile all day, overeating and getting no exercise makes you fatter, and obesity is the second most prevalent comorbidity (behind advanced age) for Covid. From Kiley Holliday and Jenin Younes at aier.org:

One of the most infuriating aspects of a year replete with illogical, short-sighted public health mandates has been the utter failure of those within the public health profession to adequately address the role that poor diet and lack of exercise have played in exacerbating the coronavirus crisis.  In fact, many of the decrees ostensibly issued in the name of public health have had the effect only of aggravating the underlying problem.

A recent global study found that obesity is a “driving factor in COVID-19 deaths,” and that Covid-19 death rates are an astonishing ten times higher in countries where most adults are overweight.  Although advanced age is the strongest indicator of a severe outcome from a coronavirus infection, “being overweight comes a close second,” the report determined.  The CEO of the World Obesity Federation went so far as to blame the “failure to address the root causes of obesity over many decades . . . for hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.”  While the study makes evident the degree to which poor underlying health is a driving force in coronavirus deaths, we have known almost since the beginning that being overweight or obese significantly increases the risk of a severe outcome.

Given this information, the Anthony Faucis and Eric Feigl-Dings of the world should focus on alerting people to the dangers of being overweight and obese, and expending significant efforts to encourage exercise and healthy diet.  Instead, they have spent the past twelve months urging people to “stay home, save lives” and to wear two masks, if not three or four, a measure not shown to have mitigated coronavirus deaths at all.

Continue reading→

88% Of COVID Deaths Occurred In Countries Where Over Half Of Population Overweight, by Tyler Durden

Obesity is clearly a comorbidity for Covid-19. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

A new report by the World Obesity Federation found that 88% of deaths in the first year of the pandemic occurred in countries where over half of the population is classified as overweight – which is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) above 25. Of note, BMI values above 30 – considered obese – are associated with ‘particularly severe outcomes,’ according to the Washington Post.

On the other hand, in countries where less than half of the adult population is considered overweight account, the risk of death from COVID-19 is around one-tenth of countries with the higher proportion of overweight adults. Higher BMIs are also associated with an increased risk of hospitalization, ICU admissions, and the need for mechanically assisted ventilation.

The ‘overweight’ countries in question include Britain, Italy and the United States – the latter of which has seen over 517,000 COVID deaths out of a total of 2.5 million globally.

Hilariously, the Post also suggests that “correlations between coronavirus severity and weight are also tied too racial and ethnic inequality.” How, you might ask? Because “Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black adults have a higher prevalence of obesity and are more likely to suffer worse outcomes from COVID-19,” according to the CDC.

Continue reading→

Health Experts: Obesity Fuelling Vastly Higher COVID Death Toll, by Steve Watson

One of Covid’s dirty little secrets is that obesity is a comorbidity. Consequently, you’re more susceptible to Covid if you’re obese. From Steve Watson at summit.news:

Hans Neleman / Getty Image

Health experts have warned that there is a direct correlation between obesity and higher COVID-19 death tolls across the globe, findings that will not jive well with the woke trend to promote being overweight as ‘body positivity’.

The London Telegraph reports that a study of 100 countries by the World Obesity Federation found that 2.2 million of 2.5 million deaths occurred in countries with high levels of obesity.

The study noted that death rates were discovered to be 10 times higher in nations where more than 50% the population was overweight.

According to the study, in countries without obesity problems, the death rate from the virus was no higher than 10 per 100,000 population.

“We now know that an overweight population is the next pandemic waiting to happen,” noted Dr Tim Lobstein, the author of the report, senior policy adviser to the World Obesity Federation and visiting professor at the University of Sydney.

Britain, which has the third highest COVID death rate in the world, also has fourth highest obesity rate. On the flip side, Vietnam has one of the lowest levels of obesity in the world, and also has the lowest COVID death rate.

The new study backs up findings from Lancet published research last year which noted that obesity increases the risk of death from Covid-19 by around 50 per cent.

Continue reading→

Does America Have A COVID Problem Or An Obesity Problem? by Tyler Durden

The elephant in the room in the many debates about Covid-19 and comorbidities is obesity. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

While we have previously reported – and by now it is common knowledge – that Covid-19 usually kills only the very old with virtually no deaths in the 45 and under category and most deaths in the 75 and over category.

Indeed, as Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid noted when discussing the average age of fatalities from Covid, “it is remarkably consistent around the 80-82 year old mark.”

Then overnight, Bloomberg’s John Authers pointed out how startling this mortality rate varies from country to country, when referencing another chart from Jim Reid:

As Authers writes, “The U.S. is a remarkable outlier. How can that possibly be?”

According to Reid, a small part of this might be down to many of the other countries having an older population. For example, Italy’s median age is 45 (43 in Europe), whereas it is 38 for the US.

However, another explanation offered by the Bloomberg commentator, which feeds into the political debate of the moment, “is that all the other developed countries on this chart have some form of universal state-provided healthcare.” But rather than get embroiled in that debate, Authers instead looks at the normal average age of people when they die. The following is a chart of life expectancy (in years) at birth for all the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development:

Continue reading→

Obesity increases risk of Covid-19 death by 48%, study finds, by Sarah Boseley

Obesity is a prevalent coronavirus comorbidity. From Sarah Boseley at theguardian.com:

The Covid intensive care unit at Western general hospital in Edinburgh

The Covid intensive care unit at Western general hospital in Edinburgh. People with obesity were found to be 74% more likely to be admitted to intensive care. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Obesity increases the risk of dying of Covid-19 by nearly 50% and may make vaccines against the disease less effective, according to a comprehensive study using global data.

The findings, which the lead researcher described as “scary”, show that the risks for people with obesity are greater than previously thought.

The study – a collaborative effort between the University of North Carolina (UNC), Saudi Health Council and World Bank – will increase pressure on governments to tackle obesity, including in the UK where Boris Johnson has put himself at the head of a drive to reduce the nation’s weight.

It emerged ahead of a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research that calls on the government to go further than its recent initiatives, which include restrictions on junk food advertising and supermarket offers.

The thinktank says a giant leap, akin to progress on sanitation in Victorian times, is needed to bring down obesity levels that shorten lives by causing heart conditions, strokes, type 2 diabetes and cancers, and impose a huge cost on the NHS.

It urges the government to employ a combination of taxes and subsidies, and proposes a new non-essential food levy of 8% on unhealthy foods that exceed a certain energy density or calorie count. Such taxes have worked in Mexico and Hungary, where people are eating less of such foods and manufacturers are reformulating their products to be healthier.

The prime minister hit out last year at “sin taxes” such as the UK’s sugary drinks levy, but his own spell in intensive care with Covid-19, which he blames on his weight, has convinced him that tough measures are needed to reduce obesity levels. It is understood that even taxes are no longer off the table.

Continue reading→

 

America’s Obesity Epidemic Threatens Effectiveness of Any COVID Vaccine, by Sarah Varney

Vaccines don’t work as well on obese people. From Sarah Varney at khn.org:

As scientists race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, experts say obesity could prove an impediment — a sobering prospect for a nation in which nearly half of all adults are obese. (Lynne Shallcross/KHN illustration; Getty Images)

For a world crippled by the coronavirus, salvation hinges on a vaccine.

But in the United States, where at least 4.6 million people have been infected and nearly 155,000 have died, the promise of that vaccine is hampered by a vexing epidemic that long preceded COVID-19: obesity.

Scientists know that vaccines engineered to protect the public from influenza, hepatitis B, tetanus and rabies can be less effective in obese adults than in the general population, leaving them more vulnerable to infection and illness. There is little reason to believe, obesity researchers say, that COVID-19 vaccines will be any different.

“Will we have a COVID vaccine next year tailored to the obese? No way,” said Raz Shaikh, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“Will it still work in the obese? Our prediction is no.”

More than 107 million American adults are obese, and their ability to return safely to work, care for their families and resume daily life could be curtailed if the coronavirus vaccine delivers weak immunity for them.

In March, still early in the global pandemic, a little-noticed study from China found that heavier Chinese patients afflicted with COVID-19 were more likely to die than leaner ones, suggesting a perilous future awaited the U.S., whose population is among the heaviest in the world.

Continue reading→

 

Health Care Laws Should Be Abolished, by Doug Casey

Free markets in medical care and medical insurance would produce far better health care and at much lower cost than the present abominations. From Doug Casey at caseyresearch.com:

Editor’s note: The ninth democratic debate aired on Wednesday night. Six candidates qualified (including billionaire Mike Bloomberg) and the event is being compared to a “Vegas boxing match”…

One of the biggest topics up for discussion (and beatdown) was healthcare – who should pay for it, whether it’s a human right, and whether frontrunner Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” plan is in any way feasible.

Of course, Casey Research founder Doug Casey has a lot to say on the subject… and his proposed solution may shock you…

By Doug Casey, founder, Casey Research

How to reform the U.S. “health care” system is a continuing topic in the news. I put that phrase in quotes because it’s a misnomer. You don’t insure your health – that can’t be done. You can only insure that the costs of medical care, if your health fails, will be covered. Saying “health care” makes people think that someone else will magically assure their health, which is impossible. Collectivists like to use the phrase as part of their continuing war on what words mean, and how people think.

Health is something you do for yourself with proper diet, exercise, and lifestyle decisions. Medical care is something very different; it’s what you need for acute trauma or disease. People want good health, but all insurance can give them is hospitals, doctors, and medicines – all of which are scary.

In any event, there does seem to be universal agreement on two related matters. One, that Americans are overweight, underexercised, and overmedicated. Two, that the U.S. medical care system is “broken” and something needs to be done. I have a radical proposal, even though there’s not a chance in hell it will ever be adopted or even discussed in public.

Here it is: Not only should there be no form of national medical care, but Medicare, Medicaid, the FDA, and all laws regulating anything to do with medicine and health should be abolished. Why? Because they are the actual cause of the crisis.

Continue reading

Supreme Court Allows Victims Of Heart Disease, Obesity To Sue Utensil Manufacturer, from The Babylon Bee

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Acme Forks & Knives was trying to block a lawsuit brought against them by the obese community. The lawsuit suggested that the company’s utensils were deadly tools that caused people to become overweight.

The Supreme Court has blocked the company’s attempt to block the lawsuit, paving the way for victims of heart disease and other diet-related ailments to sue Acme.

“Finally—the big forks and knives lobby will be held accountable for contributing to heart disease and obesity, the leading causes of death among American adults,” said a spokesperson for the oppressed obese community. “No human action leads to these deaths. It is entirely on the sentient utensils used to carry out the mass eating events.”

“Blood is on their hands!” protesters cried. “Fight the corporate fork and knife lobby!”

Lawyers for the plaintiffs in these lawsuits have presented evidence that Acme Forks & Knives have marketed their utensils to the obese, specifically encouraging them to shovel a bunch of food in their mouths. They also said it was dangerous and irresponsible for the company to market a “fully automatic assault spork” that can shove “300 rounds of chili” into your face in under 10 seconds.

“Nobody needs that kind of forkpower,” said one lawyer. “We will get justice for the obvious cause of this epidemic of deaths: the guys who make the utensils.”

https://babylonbee.com/news/supreme-court-allows-obese-people-to-sue-utensil-manufacturer