According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 73% of the half a million Americans who have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began were obese or overweight.
As reported by the Daily Wire, “The data of one study group found 46% of those who have died from the virus were obese and 27.3% were overweight. A body mass index (BMI) above 30 is considered obese, while overweight people have a BMI of 25 to 29.9. In the U.S., about 70% of Americans are considered overweight, with 42.4% classified as obese.”
“In addition, the CDC found that nearly eight in 10 people hospitalized for the virus were either obese or overweight,” the report added.
According to the World Obesity Federation, “only old age rates as a higher risk factor” for COVID-19 death, and that “Increased body weight is the second greatest predictor of hospitalization and a high risk of death” for those who catch the virus.
This raises the obvious point that being overweight — and especially being obese — is objectively bad for your health.
For a long time in our modern society, this was a widely accepted medical reality. However, in recent times, there has been an intentional push from the politically correct Left to not only accept obesity as normal, but to celebrate it as healthy
For example, in August of 2018 Cosmopolitan U.K. selected body positivity activist and model Tess Holliday for the magazine’s cover, who is medically obese.
Tess Holliday Is Rocking A Swimsuit On The Cover Of Cosmo UK https://t.co/twzkS8aWXJ
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) August 30, 2018
In January 2021, Cosmopolitan U.K. published a piece titled “11 women who prove wellness isn’t ‘one size fits all,’” with several obese women featured on the cover under the headline “This Is Healthy.”
the party of science strikes again pic.twitter.com/iD1Zmfp2SW
— Jessica O’Donnell (@heckyessica) January 4, 2021
However, given the clear susceptibility of those who are overweight or obese to COVID-19 — among other legitimate health risks — it’s obvious that obesity is not healthy.
The point is not that those who are overweight or obese who have died or become seriously ill from COVID-19 should be criticized or viewed as culpable for their suffering. Such an argument is both callous and immoral.
Similarly, the point is not to dismiss the argument of many in the world of “body positivity” that the idea of a “perfect body” has been warped beyond reality by multiple industries, causing a wide range of body-related concerns and conditions while also fueling the societal rejection of those who fail to “conform.”
However, the important point we must acknowledge is that the elements of the “body positivity” movement which celebrate obesity as a moral and medical good are doing those who follow their lead a great and — frankly — potentially deadly disservice.
It’s one thing to be comfortable with your body and understand that we all have individual needs when it comes to health. It’s another to make the demonstrably false claim that obesity is good, when publicly available data proves that it is almost entirely bad.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.