Posted on 01/04/2022 8:10:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One of the only silver linings of the pandemic has been that young people are less affected by COVID-19 than the elderly. In fact, the most vital indicator of negative COVID-19 outcomes is age: Unlike the Spanish flu, which ravaged armies that were overwhelmingly comprised of otherwise healthy young people during World War I, COVID-19's death toll is dramatically skewed toward those who have already lived many years. (For context, the average age of death from Spanish flu was 28.)
That said, about 600 Americans under the age of 18 have died of COVID-19 during the pandemic. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took a closer look at young people who were hospitalized for COVID-19 in July and August, while the delta variant wave took hold, and largely found that healthy young people continue to mostly evade the worst of COVID-19.
The study found that most young people who suffer severe COVID-19 outcomes had underlying health conditions. The most common, especially for teenagers, was obesity.
"Among patients aged 12–17 years, 61.4 percent had obesity," according to the study, "60.5 percent of whom had severe obesity."
The study looked at six U.S. hospitals—all of them in the American South—and evaluated 915 cases of COVID-19 in adolescents that required hospitalization. The vast majority were hospitalized for COVID-19, though some had other infections as well. Of the 713 patients who were primarily hospitalized for COVID-19, two-thirds had at least one underlying health condition. For the teenage cohort—patients at least 12 years of age—the obesity rate was 61.4 percent. The severe obesity rate was 60.5 percent. Just one of the eligible patients had been vaccinated, and 11 patients died in total.
What this means, of course, is that COVID-19 can be a fatal disease, even for young people - but vaccine status and general health are extremely important variables. It remains the case that healthy children who do not have underlying health conditions—particularly obesity—are by and large safe from negative COVID-19 health outcomes.
"Compared with patients without obesity, those with obesity required higher levels and longer duration of care," wrote the study's authors.
"These findings are consistent with previous reports and highlight the importance of obesity and other medical conditions as risk factors for severe COVID-19 in children and adolescents."
One of the best ways to guard against obesity is to encourage healthy eating and active lifestyles among the youth population. Exercise is not a panacea, but kids who play sports or engage in physical activity are less likely to become obese. Physically active kids tend to have better diets than those who stay indoors all day, glued to their screens.
It's important to perform this reality check—the more healthy and active kids are, the less COVID-19 threatens them—given just how much the lives of young people were upended by pandemic mitigation efforts. In the name of slowing COVID-19's spread, public health authorities closed schools, shuttered extracurricular activities, and instructed young people to remain by themselves, indoors. Even benign activities like playing at the park were discouraged for the first few months of the pandemic. And while many activities have resumed, some college campuses (for instance) would rather their student populations quit sports than dare to do them unmasked.
Those who have rule-making power over young people would be well-advised to consider whether the purported cure is worse than the disease—and whether it actually makes the disease more dangerous for some. Young people need socialization and activity. They need a reason to put down their smartphones and venture out into the world. It is not in the interests of public health to keep them shut up in their bedrooms and dormitories for long periods of time.
As the super infectious—though seemingly more mild—omicron variant threatens to force public health officials to re-implement stringent mitigation measures, that's worth keeping in mind.
“FOR”, “WITH”, “OF” CONvid-one9?
Between video games and other devices, not allowing teens t get jobs and liberal indoctrination and other policies, I believe it.
Yeah! That’s the ticket. Blame the vaccine victims!
RE: Blame the vaccine victims!
I don’t think this article mentions vaccines at all other than as an aside.
All progress starts with telling the truth.
The obese have very low view in D blood serum levels.
It is a very significant risk factor.
Considering that the most common comorbidities for Covid relayed hospitalization in adults were obesity and obesity related issues, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
There are studies showing that moderate exercise helps with the severity of covid (science!).
I looked up the obesity % in teens from the CDC: 21.2% (though this was from 2017-2018, so with the Coof lockdowns I’m sure this percentage is up).
So, 61% is significantly higher. Maybe we should be focusing more on eliminating childhood obesity. But with the body positivity movement this may not be allowed.
Obesity also explains why minorities have worse outcomes with Covid. Blacks and Hispanics have 50% obesity rates.
It isn’t just youth. They lie about everything.
Among 148,494 adults who received a Covid-19 diagnosis during an emergency department or inpatient visit at 238 U.S. hospitals from March to December, 71,491 were hospitalized. Of those who were admitted, 27.8% were overweight and 50.2% were obese, according to the CDC report. Overweight is defined as having a body mass index of 25 or more, while obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or more.
Another scare tactic using “the children” to try to shake health costs they have created. This is not new.
wy69
Ok look, got to start with a dumb question...what percent of teenagers are considered “obese” these days? While when I think of “obese”, I think of someone who can barely move from a couch. These days it means a height to weight ratio put together by morons. Case and point. I am 6 foot 2 inches. My build is such that a healthy trim weight for me is about 235 pounds. But the moron chart says that means even when I am in great shape I am “obese”. Now sure there may be some people at 6 foot 2 that are built differently. And maybe trim for them is many pounds less than 235. But even they would not be “obese” . The definition was made by morons.
BMI is a useful tool when pulling statistics for a million people. It is useful in studies like these. For an individual, obesity can be easily seen. Bodybuilders are heavy not obese. But I doubt many of the severely obese teens were bodybuilders!
https://www.optimistdaily.com/2022/01/crispr-cas9-may-be-able-to-solve-obesity/. One has to give question to this. Crispr is looking to cure obesity. Create a ‘problem’ and provide the cure. Revolving circle of spike protein treatments and vaccines.
I know how to fix it. We can add
more to their SNAP cards. We can give them more free breakfasts and other meals on top of that. We can give them more free turkeys and bags of food at Thanksgiving time. How about free lunches all summer long. How about more free bags of food at Christmas time. How about not taking snacks and beverages loaded with sugar off of their EBT/SNAP cards. Can’t do that.
We can take responsibility for their problem and they can then go on disability and eat to their hearts content.
See? Easy fix.
Robby Soave is an American journalist who is a senior editor for Reason and the author of two books: Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump and Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn't Fear Facebook and the Future. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan. In 2015, he won a Southern California Journalism Award from the Los Angeles Press Club for his writing on the Rolling Stone story "A Rape on Campus". He was named in Forbes' "30 under 30" list in 2016. In 2019, he gained media attention for his writings defending the Covington Catholic High School students involved in the Lincoln Memorial confrontation. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife where he serves on the D.C. Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
In my opinion, which isn’t worth much, this CoVid problem has been an epidemic for the elderly, the immmune-compromised, and the obese, no matter the age.
We have a population that over indulges in food consumption for various reasons.
When I was a kid and a young adult, I was underweight. I could eat anything I wanted to and struggled to put weight on. That kept up even after 3 pregnancies. It wasn’t until I was in my late 40’s and starting menopause that I began to put weight on. And on. I could never take it off. It seemed as though the switch had been flipped. In 10 years, I gained 60 pounds, just a little at a time.
I tried many different diets. None of them worked. My doctor urged me to keep trying and put me on an appetite suppressant, and it wasn’t until I started having a tiny bit of success that I was even encouraged to keep trying. It took me a year and a half to lose 50 pounds, but I did it.
Then CoVid lockdowns happened and I started putting the weight back on. I gained 12 pounds easily in 9 months.
He wouldn’t put me back on appetite suppressants, so I tried another weight loss program. This time it was Noom. I know it’s not for everyone, but it is working for me and my husband. Within 5 months I lost 14 pounds, and I kept it off. I’ve lost another 2 pounds since then, and I’m keeping that off, too, even through the holidays.
My relationship to food has changed. I do eat whatever I want, but not as much as I used to want. Sometimes I have no desire for the sweets, but when I do, I have some as a treat, not a cheat. It’s a mental game.
A few years ago, I thought I was destined to be overweight, because it’s in my genes. I discovered that was a thought distortion. I am on the high end of normal BMI now, but I am at least in that range again. I don’t ever want to go back to the way I was before. Losing the pounds and becoming more fit has given me the confidence boost I needed.
I wish the CDC would start telling people the truth about food, nutrition, and obesity, and it’s relationship to the health of our bodies. What foods do you eat? When do you eat them? Why do you eat them? Take a look at these aspects of your relationship with food, and you can eat better for you.
Find it very hard to believe the bmi is even accurate in general. I recall reading once (years ago, unrelated to covid 19) of a study of residence at a retirement home that looked at their bmi vs how long they lived. Don’t recall details but do distinctly remember that the weight range that lived longest was overweight according to the bmi charts.
Obesity increases COVID risk from what I’ve read.
At one point in Israel before the child vax was available the government decided that in certain cases like “morbid obesity” in children 12 and younger the vax could be administered.
In the end the panel of experts said the risk of vax side effects outweighed the COVID threat caused by “morbid obesity” in children.
My daughter’s boyfriend works out every day with barbells and such. We have seen him go from a trim athletic build, to very round. It shows in his face, his abdomen, and to a degree, all over his body. He may think he’s healthy, and yes, he is more so than someone who isn’t working out, but I guarantee you that he is more than overweight now. He told us he was allowed to get his vaccine early because “technically” he’s obese. When I look at him, I don’t see an athlete. I see a mildly obese person who doesn’t try to control his food intake. He thinks that because he’s young (34) he is still healthy with a round figure. I want to caution him about his weight, but I know I would risk damaging my relationship with my daughter if I did that. For both of their sakes, I’d like him to lose a few pounds.
Not sure of your point re: the author. Whoever, the author is, facts are facts, and the ability or inability to present a compelling argument is what it is.
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