Pandemic shows threat of obesity, and challenge of weight loss

Jennifer Bergin had been obese and pre-diabetic prior to the pandemic, and learning she also had high blood pressure made her worry about how exactly sick she might get with COVID-19. She commenced walking three hours a day, eventually losing 60 pounds.

“I just knew I was a prime applicant for getting it rather than recovering,” said Bergin, a 50-year-old resident of Charlotte, NEW YORK. Now 170 pounds and 5 feet, 4 inches tall, she is no more considered obese, but want to continue bettering her health.

Since the early days of the pandemic, health officials have warned that obesity and related conditions such as for example diabetes were risk factors for extreme COVID-19. It had been another reminder of the numerous underlying medical issues often signaled by obesity - as well as of how stubbornly difficult sustained weight loss can be. Even confronted with such risks, it's not clear how common Bergin's dramatic weight loss may be.

Across the country, many people of all body sizes have either gained or lost weight through the pandemic. For a few like Bergin, no longer commuting to an office meant more time for walking, eating dinner out less and greater control over what she ate.

But also for others, being stuck in the home meant moving less and consuming more due to stress, anxiety, depression - or just proximity to your kitchen.

The spectrum of weight changes underscores the complexities of obesity, including how much of a job a person’s circumstances can play within their health, said Karen H. Yeary, an obesity researcher at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y. That’s unlike the notion that losing weight is merely a matter of willpower, she said.

“It takes a whole lot of effort and energy to consume healthy and then to lose excess weight,” Yeary said.

Another reason tackling obesity is indeed difficult: Weight gain often happens slowly over years, which makes it much easier to dismiss as a ailment. In the U.S., around one in four adults are considered obese, and another one in three are overweight.

It's not until a major health scare, such as a heart attack or a notable deterioration in lifestyle, that people are motivated to lose excess weight, said Eric Plaisance, an obesity researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

And even though the pandemic illuminated the risks of obesity, he said people were already used to hearing about how unhealthy it is to be overweight.

“It often takes a much greater, life-changing event at an individual level,” he said of what often triggers successful weight loss for folks.

That was the case for Mickey Beatima, a 29-year-old Seattle resident who started trying to lose weight a couple months before the pandemic, when his diabetes resulted in eye problems.

“That basically hit me,” said Beatima, who's 5 feet, 8 inches tall and has gone from about 300 pounds to 170 pounds.

The pandemic accelerated his efforts by making weight loss easier. He was no longer getting takeout, going out with friends or gathering with his family because of their customary feasts.

He also found solace in dancing to YouTube videos, and was motivated by the data that getting healthier would reduce his risk for serious COVID-19.

“If I were to obtain it and I was still 300, I think it might be way more of a battle than if I first got it today,” Beatima said.

Christian Hainds, a 42-year-old resident of Hammond, Indiana, also lost about 50 pounds through the pandemic, and at 180 pounds and 5 feet, 11 inches tall is no more considered obese.

His weight had crept up through the years, peaking at around 230 pounds. Nonetheless it wasn't until he was diagnosed as diabetic around the beginning of the pandemic that he felt the urgency to create changes - especially since data was emerging that it had been among the conditions that was more likely to lead to extreme coronavirus disease.

“All of those long-term scary things that may happen because of obesity no more became long-term concerns,” Hainds said.

For many others, the spotlight the pandemic placed on risks of obesity has faded as vaccines and treatments have dampened the risk of the virus, said obesity researcher Yeary. That may lessen the sense of urgency that was helping to motivate some people. The circumstances of the pandemic that made weight loss easier for some - additional time for long walks, eating dinner out less - are also going away.

Beatima, for example, is spending more time along with his family again and has put some weight back on. But he's not concerned about it derailing his overall workout goals, because, he said, the pandemic gave him perspective how his weight was linked with what he valued, such as being healthy enough to invest time along with his nieces and nephews for quite some time to come.

“That new ground is understanding the worthiness of my physical health, my social health insurance and my mental health," he said.