Covid may be on everyone’s mind, but watching our weight is still essential, writes Jason Osborne
Perhaps we should have anticipated it, but one of the real challenges of lockdown life has been making sure that our weight doesn’t change for the worse. There is any number of reasons why it could, from stress about the state of things, to an increased amount of time spent sitting at home, in the proximity of all of the snacks we’ve stocked up on.
When you couple the increased temptation to eat a little less healthily with the decrease in exercise most of us are getting, you’re confronted with a potent mix of factors than can contribute to severe weight gain. It’s not an idle fear either, with obesity and simply being overweight becoming serious problems in Ireland.
Statistics
According to Health Ireland Survey findings, which are listed on the HSE website:
– Just under four in ten people (37%) in Ireland have a normal weight, with six out of ten overweight or obese (37% overweight and 23% obese).
– While men are more likely to be overweight than women (men: 43%, women: 31%) the proportions that are obese are more closely aligned (men: 25%, women: 22%).
– A smaller difference exists between men and women aged under 25.
– 31% of men aged 15-24 are overweight or obese, compared to 27% of women of this age.
– Women who are overweight or obese are more likely to try and lose weight than men who are overweight or obese.
– Those who are attempting to lose weight generally do so by exercising more often or by eating fewer calories.
While all of the talk at the moment is about Covid, we ought not to let other health concerns fly under the radar – obesity and becoming overweight foremost among them, as it’s very often something in our power to affect or change.
Heart disease and diabetes, which often accompany obesity, can deprive people of up to 8 years of life and 19 years of a healthy life. Other ill-effects can include:
– A higher risk of chronic illness, disability, and as mentioned, an early death.
– Higher risk of pregnancy complications and an overweight child.
– A loss of independence due to chronic illness or disability.
– An increased risk of bullying, poor mental health, and obesity as an adult (if overweight as a child).
Causes of obesity/being overweight
While the detrimental effects of being overweight or obese on our physical and mental health are evident enough, the causes of these situations often slips beneath our notice, particularly during lockdown. Lifestyle choices play one of the largest parts in influencing our weight, and with everyone’s lifestyle severely disrupted by the ongoing restrictions, it’s easier than ever to tip the scales a little more than we have done previously.
The main sources of excess weight are unhealthy food choices, a lack of physical activity, genetics and medical reasons. In terms of unhealthy food choices, eating processed or fast food (that is high in fat), not eating fruit, vegetables and unrefined carbohydrates , drinking too much alcohol, eating larger portions than you need and comfort eating are all behaviours that contribute significantly to becoming overweight or obese.
A lack of physical activity is also an enormous fact in influencing weight. In ordinary time, it was identified that jobs involving many hours sitting at a desk, followed by a heavy reliance on cars and passive leisure activities were contributing significantly to a decrease in physical activity. It isn’t hard to imagine that since working from home was instituted, coupled with five kilometre travel restrictions, levels of physical activity have dropped even further.
The National Guidelines on Physical Activity for Ireland recommend that adults do at least 150 minutes, or two hours and 30 minutes, of “moderate-intensity” aerobic activity every week. Such activity includes exercises like cycling and fast walking.
Genetics and medical conditions can play a role in weight, with some people staying the same weight for years without making an especial effort to do so, while others put on weight quickly if they’re not too careful about what they eat. This could be due, in part, to genetics.
Some of the ways in which genetics influence weight include increasing the appetites of some, while others might have a genetic variation that sees their body more likely to store fat than somebody else’s. On the other hand, a medical condition, such as Cushing’s syndrome or an underactive thyroid gland can result in weight gain too.
Obesity ‘wonder’ drug
It is sometimes the case that a person requires medical intervention in order to tackle their obesity first, before progressing to managing their weight themselves in the long run.
A recent development on this front is a drug set to be available in Ireland early next year, Semaglutide. A study of around 2,000 patients, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the mean change in body weight was -14.9% in the Semaglutide group, as opposed to -2.4% in the placebo group.
Semaglutide works by “highjacking” the body’s appetite regulating system in the brain, which results in a reduced sense of hunger. The development comes as the HSE looks to step up its fight against obesity in Ireland, which has been described as an “epidemic”.
Newstalk reported that Dr Donal O’Shea, the HSE’s clinical lead for obesity, said the “penny had dropped” on the obesity crisis in Ireland.
“This drug, which is probably going to be licenced in Europe by the end of the year and available in Ireland by early next year, is the first step-change in drug management of obesity,” he said on Newstalk Breakfast.
“We have drugs to treat heart disease and we have operations to treat heart disease: we’re now reaching the point where we have drugs to treat obesity, and the HSE is committing to operations to treat obesity,” he said.
This marks a real change in the management of obesity, but in the long-term, the majority of us must continue to rely on the old-fashioned remedies of healthy eating and sufficient exercise.
Health kick
As has been said throughout the article, staying active, eating well, and as I said last week, sleeping well, are the keys to an all-round healthy lifestyle. The lockdown has made many of these pursuits more difficult, but certainly not impossible. The key to maintaining any of them, however, is routine.
An exercise routine, meal plans, and a disciplined approach to our bedtime will make it much easier to manage our weight going forward. All of these things are achievable in the present circumstances.
Rather than initiate an unsustainable health kick, start with simpler steps, depending on what you’re used to. Try going to bed slightly earlier, if work and your family situation allow, and getting up earlier in turn. Use the early hours of the morning to do some form of exercise, based on your capabilities. For some, this will be a simple half-hour walk, while for others, it may be an hour-long workout using homemade weights or workout equipment.
Also begin to manage your meals in advance. The temptation to order something or snack often descends upon us when we’re at our most tired and are unwilling or unable to muster up the energy to rustle up something reasonable. Try to get into the habit of preparing tomorrow’s meals the night before, as it leads to more balanced eating habits in the long run.
Dishes such as pastas, curries, soups, stews, sandwiches, wraps and rolls keep well, so don’t be afraid to make a few days supply (provided the ingredients are fresh).
A holistic approach to a healthy life, a measured plan, will make it much easier to keep the weight off as winter loses its grip, allowing us to enjoy the coming spring to the full.
