COVID a killer for the obese: ‘Like pouring gasoline on top of a fire’on February 15, 2021 at 7:31 pm

When the Rev. Robert Biekman was diagnosed with COVID-19 last month, he couldn’t help but think what would have happened if he had still weighed more than 360 pounds — realizing how his condition four years ago would have hurt his ability to fight the virus and potentially cost him his life.

“If I was as big as I was, this thing would’ve probably taken me out,” said Biekman, 61, who after a 2017 surgery, change in diet and a commitment to run 5 miles every other day, now keeps his weight around 190 pounds or less. He recovered from the virus and now tests negative.

Obesity is a killer in Black communities, contributing to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and all causes of death. It’s among the factors making heart disease the No. 1 cause of death among Black men in the U.S.

The pandemic exposed another deadly threat from obesity: A higher risk of complications or death from COVID-19.

After old age, underlying health conditions often spurred by being overweight or obese contribute the most to complications and death in COVID patients, U.S. health officials say. Obesity can triple the risk of being hospitalized with COVID and the risk of death rises with higher measures of body fat. The reasons range from poor lung function to suppressed immune systems from related health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Cook County Medical Examiner records list obesity as a contributing cause for 760 COVID deaths through January 10, or about 1 in 11 of the more than 8,500 deaths for that period.

The data also reveals a trend among younger people who have died. Those who are 40 or under account for only 2.5% of COVID deaths. However, almost 40% of the death records for that group indicate obesity was a contributing cause of death.

All demographic groups impacted

Obesity is a major health concern across all demographic groups in the U.S. About 40% of Blacks, 30% of whites and 34% of Hispanics are considered obese, U.S. health data show. Obesity is defined by a metric known as body mass index, or BMI, which calculates a score based on weight and height. A person who is 5-foot-9 and weighs 203 pounds or more would be considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In Chicago and Cook County, it’s a problem that’s pushed health providers and Black community leaders to wage war on obesity. Blacks make up about 23% of the county population, yet account for 38% of the COVID deaths with obesity as a contributing factor, records show.

As the season of Lent approaches, the Rev. Otis Moss III, senior pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side, urges his 7,500 members to honor the holy period with healthy living, including weekly adherence to nutritious eating.

“It’s part and parcel of our mission and our vision,” Moss said. “One of the things we worked very hard on is not only healthy choices but diet, exercise, spiritual and emotional state of health.”

Promoting healthy living is “part and parcel” of the mission at the Rev. Otis Moss III’s church Trinity United Church of Christ.

During Lent in 2019, more than 40 members of Trinity United, encouraged by Moss, agreed to eat only a plant-based diet while a team of doctors monitored them. Examining blood samples, researchers found that in just five weeks of eating a plant-based diet the participants not only lost weight, they showed metabolic evidence of improved cardiovascular health.

“They lost a lot of weight, their risk factors went down, all the metabolic markers improved,” said study researcher Dr. Kim Williams Sr., chief of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center. “We made a difference.”

Dr. Terry Mason, former Cook County chief medical officer and a member of Trinity United who helped conduct the research, said the doctors hope to run an even larger study of at least 200 people in the future.

Williams and Mason, both vegans, promote the merits of eating only plant-based foods and avoiding processed and sugar-loaded items. Both have been stressing the vegan lifestyle for more than 20 years, and both men are worried about the impact diet has on the health of Black Chicagoans.

Preventative care, including exercise and healthy eating, is a better approach than “maintenance” through medicines, Williams said.

“If we were to follow that, we’d fight coronavirus better, we’d fight cardiovascular disease better and we wouldn’t have this problem in the African-American community so much,” Williams said.

Dr. Kim Williams, who heads cardiology at Rush University Medical Center, encourages a vegan diet.

Because of its impact on already stressed organs in the body of obese people, COVID-19 is just the latest bad outcome from poor eating habits, Mason said.

“Imagine it’s like pouring gasoline on top of a fire when you have COVID,” Mason said. “It creates these horrific situations in our bodies. That’s why most of these people who died from COVID, most of them have these underlying issues. If we really want to get to the core of the problem, we have to change what we eat.”

Even patients who are overweight just enough to be at the low end of being classified obese can face complications from COVID, said Dr. Holly Lofton, an obesity medicine specialist at NYU Langone Health in New York.

The more obese the patient, even procedures such as medical imaging and placement of breathing tubes can be difficult. What’s more, the more belly fat a patient carries can put pressure on the lungs, she said.

“Many people with obesity carry more fat around the midsection, which pushes up on the lungs,” Lofton said. “Patients can’t expand their lungs enough and that can very quickly lead to respiratory failure and death.”

Even slight obesity can create complications for COVID patients, Dr. Holly Lofton says.

The pandemic exposed discrimination in the U.S. health system. COVID is ravaging Black communities, disproportionately infecting and killing more people than in white neighborhoods. This is happening for a number of reasons, including a lack of access to medical care and overall poor health.

Funding sought to improve access to healthy foods

There are two major initiatives to improve health care on the city’s South and West sides, which are each seeking millions of dollars in state funding. Both efforts stress preventive health care and the West Side initiative proposes spending health care dollars to build a grocery store and boost access to healthy foods.

In a number of the city’s Black neighborhoods, convenience stores sometimes substitute for grocers but lack nutritious food options.

“There’s access to food but not food that’s beneficial to a child’s growth,” Moss said.

Both Moss and Biekman have been involved in forming the South Side initiative, illustrating the role of religious leaders.

Biekman, who is now an executive with the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, lost his weight when he was a pastor at Maple Park United Methodist Church on the South Side.

At the time, he openly talked with his congregation about the decision to address his obesity and transform his health, a discussion that inspired some of his church’s members, he said.

“With the faith community, we journey together,” he said.

Contributing: Caroline Hurley

Brett Chase’s reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.

Rev. Biekman’s weight loss has inspired some others in his church to do the same, he said.

COVID a killer for the obese: ‘Like pouring gasoline on top of a fire’on February 15, 2021 at 7:31 pm Read More »

On President’s Day, a teachable moment: Trumpers may huff and puff but will they blow our Democracy down?on February 15, 2021 at 6:05 pm

Academic Ink-lings

On President’s Day, a teachable moment: Trumpers may huff and puff but will they blow our Democracy down?

I teach upper elementary and middle school students about climate change every Thursday, and I keep thinking about what students might say about the second impeachment trial.

As I try to make sense of the acquittal, I parody a Megan Trainor song…it’s all about that oath.

So, what will I talk about this Thursday with my students who are passionate about acting on the climate crisis? How will we discuss the resilience of our Democracy relative to the acquittal?

I’ll talk about growth. What impressed me most (and I am not a total numbers person when it comes to working with students) is that during the first impeachment trial, only one Republican senator voted for conviction while during the second impeachment trial, seven Republican senators did.

Now that’s substantial growth!

Next, I’ll share the oath* that each and every senator took as the senators assumed the responsibility of becoming impartial jurors, including those who were on the phone with our ex-President during the insurrection. That insurrection interrupted the counting of the electoral votes on the sixth of January, led to the deaths of five individuals, and horrific injury to many, plus serious property damage.

Below is the oath:

I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be,) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God.

So, help me—in a moment of utter angst, I will tell my students that a number of Republican senators skipped parts of the second impeachment trial—shirking constitutional responsibility and debasing their oaths–far more serious than cheating or cutting class.

I’ll read the names of those Republican senators whom I believe upheld their Constitutional oath:

Richard Burr
Bill Cassidy
Susan Collins
Lisa Murkowski
Mitt Romney
Ben Sasse
Pat Toomey

I will cover this material because I believe in the integrity of youth and their ability to dive into complex issues. I won’t tell my students what to believe, I will just give them context in which to analyze and evaluate the evidence. I’ll remind them of the fairy tale we interpreted as a class to foster open conversations, discussions calling for higher level thinking, as I believe these seven Senators did.

Two weeks ago, I introduced the class to Blooms (Revised) Taxonomy, in the context of The Three Little Pigs. Here’s a brief tutorial:

Bloom’s (Revised) Taxonomy calls for growth, the development of thinking from lowest to highest levels. Cognitively, it’s easier for us to master the earlier levels of thinking, such as “remember,” “understand” or “apply.” I’ll give you an example of “apply.” Let’s say your child studies fractions in class, and you take your child to the grocery store. If your child recognizes that you are buying a third of a pound of any food product, then most likely your child is learning how to use –or apply–what she was taught in school.

Our class discussed even more challenging levels of Bloom’s (Revised) Taxonomy: “analysis,” “evaluation,” and “creation.” Those are considered higher levels of thinking because they require integration—and that’s where the Three Little Pigs come in. The second pig learned from the mistakes of the first pig and built a house of wood. And the third little pig took his thinking one step further after seeing what happened to the second little pig. He created a house that couldn’t be destroyed, no matter how hard somebody huffed and puffed and threatened to blow that house down.

And what I am hoping is that these kids realize that the seven Republican senators who voted in favor of impeachment want our Democracy to be a house of bricks. A house that even the VENGEFUL Donald Trump (and of course his fellow thugs) can’t blow down.

And I will tell my students, if they don’t know already, that 57 Senators voted to impeach. Yep, that’s REMARKABLE growth; more than half of our Senators voted to impeach (impeachment calls for 2/3).

I expect someone will ask me about Mitch McConnell’s bizarre (Catch 22) post-acquittal speech.

I’ll listen to student interpretations and perhaps liken Mitch McConnell’s confounding comments to playing Dodge Ball. I keep hearing that “history will judge Mitch….” Certainly likely, and in my mind, so will the next generation of voters. Kids, like the ones I teach. Students who treasure human and animal life and are working so very hard to save our planet.

I am hoping that teachers (and parents) will take the risk (not fear being called out as political) and discuss morals and the evidence at hand. Our job is to teach kids how to think on their own and make real connections. In no uncertain terms, participatory democracy requires complex thinking.

Let some huff, and puff, and try to blow our Democratic house down. I’m not scared. I think our Democracy is made of bricks; we learned, as we studied history and analyzed the Civil War, including President Lincoln’s warning (which we heeded) “that a house divided cannot stand.”

Notes:

https://www.google.com/search?q=constitutional+oath+impeachment&oq=constitutional+oath+impeachment&aqs=chrome..69i57.14345j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

Filed under:
Uncategorized

On President’s Day, a teachable moment: Trumpers may huff and puff but will they blow our Democracy down?on February 15, 2021 at 6:05 pm Read More »

Rivers Casino evacuated after kitchen fire; 1 taken to a hospitalon February 15, 2021 at 5:05 pm

One person was taken to a hospital after Rivers Casino in Des Plaines was evacuated Sunday for a fire on the property.

Firefighters extinguished a blaze about 10 p.m. in the Hugo’s Frog Bar kitchen cooking ventilation system and the rooftop, the Des Plaines Fire Department said in a statement.

One evacuated patron requested medical assistance and was treated and taken to Lutheran General Hospital with a non-life-threatening issue, the department said.

It was unclear if the injury was fire-related.

Damage was isolated to the kitchen hood and duct and a portion of the roof, the department said. There was also slight water damage.

A casino spokesman called it a “small late night kitchen fire.” Guests and employees were evacuated from the casino.

“We thank the Des Plaines Fire Department for their quick work and for working with Rivers and the Illinois Gaming Board on our reopen plan,” the casino said in a statement.

The casino reopened Monday morning but the restaurant remained closed, the fire department said.

Rivers Casino evacuated after kitchen fire; 1 taken to a hospitalon February 15, 2021 at 5:05 pm Read More »

Eight of the area’s elite teams will participate in season-ending high school basketball tournamenton February 15, 2021 at 3:56 pm

The Chicago area’s top high school basketball teams may not have a state championship to play for at the end of this abbreviated season. But there will be a chance to play each other with something on the line in a tournament format.

While high school basketball is finally being played again, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the sport over the past 12 months. But former New Trier and Fenwick coach Rick Malnati went to work to try and find something for several of the state’s top teams to look forward to in 2021.

Malnati announced there will be a season-ending tournament the weekend of March 12-13, featuring eight highly-ranked teams: DePaul Prep, Evanston, Fenwick, Mundelein, Notre Dame, Simeon, St. Patrick and Young.

Currently those eight teams are all ranked among the top 10 teams in the Sun-Times Super 25 rankings, including the top six teams.

Malnati, who has worked as an analyst the past two years while doing high school basketball games on television with WCIU-The U, began brainstorming when he heard there could be a season. Regardless of the length of the season, Malnati believed creating a postseason opportunity to play for something was important.

He reached out to several coaches of top teams to gauge the interest. The response was pretty overwhelming and the process began.

“I thought it would be great to somehow create an ending to whatever season would be played,” said Malnati. “So when I talked with the coaches and told them, they said, ‘If there is a season, we are in.'”

While the logistics are still being ironed out in terms of tournament format and an official site, the plan is to have four quarterfinal games played on Friday, March 12, followed by the semifinals early the next day. The championship game will be played Saturday night. All the games will be streamed online.

Notre Dame was a team that was competing for a state championship last March and began the season ranked No. 1 in the Chicago area. Coach Kevin Clancy welcomes the idea of the tournament and calls it a “carrot at the end of the year” for a team with such high hopes and expectations.

“Winning conference is a priority and a goal for us, especially this season,” said Clancy. “This adds another dimension. This is a chance to play and compete at a high level, for our kids to be challenged while playing against some of the best teams and top talent in the state.”

Young is accustomed to playing in high-profile events across the country in preparation for a state championship run in March. This year it will have to settle for an end-of-the-season opportunity to play some of the best the state offers in an eight-team field.

“My overriding thought relates to the kids and having something for them to look forward to,” said Young coach Tyrone Slaughter. “There are no championships, really, to play for in this truncated season. This allows kids to have a chance to play quality opponents and against great coaches and players with one team being crowned champion.”

Although Malnati would have loved to have had a chance for an expanded tournament and included more teams, it just wasn’t possible with all the obstacles due to the pandemic and regulations.

“You make the most of what you can do, and I think this is a great opportunity for at least some of the teams,” said Malnati.

There were certain teams throughout the Chicago area who were unable to compete in the tournament due to either school district or conference policies and protocols. Geographically, the travel factor of playing teams within 30 miles was also a hinderance for a few teams.

“This should be a lot of fun for these teams,” said Malnati.

Eight of the area’s elite teams will participate in season-ending high school basketball tournamenton February 15, 2021 at 3:56 pm Read More »

Notre Dame-Clemson men’s basketball game postponed after positive coronavirus teston February 15, 2021 at 4:43 pm

The ACC said that the postponement follows a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Tigers program.

Associated Press

Feb 15, 2021, 10:43am CST

Notre Dame-Clemson men’s basketball game postponed after positive coronavirus teston February 15, 2021 at 4:43 pm Read More »

The “People 2 Watch” List For 2021on February 15, 2021 at 2:34 pm

Stop Look Listen

The “People 2 Watch” List For 2021

The “People 2 Watch” List For 2021on February 15, 2021 at 2:34 pm Read More »

An Ode to Suspenderson February 15, 2021 at 2:37 pm

Getting More From Les

An Ode to Suspenders

ChicagoNOW

An Ode to Suspenderson February 15, 2021 at 2:37 pm Read More »

Hillary Clinton can rob a bank every Friday night and steal the collection plate on Sundayon February 15, 2021 at 3:49 pm

The Chicago Board of Tirade

Home
Archive

Hillary Clinton can rob a bank every Friday night and steal the collection plate on Sunday

ChicagoNOW

Hillary Clinton can rob a bank every Friday night and steal the collection plate on Sundayon February 15, 2021 at 3:49 pm Read More »

An overdue list of pandemic diversionson February 15, 2021 at 4:16 pm

Retired in Chicago

An overdue list of pandemic diversions

ChicagoNOW

An overdue list of pandemic diversionson February 15, 2021 at 4:16 pm Read More »

Jill Biden: Fashion plate?on February 15, 2021 at 4:43 pm

The Quark In The Road

Jill Biden: Fashion plate?

Jill Biden: Fashion plate?on February 15, 2021 at 4:43 pm Read More »

All demographic groups impacted

Funding sought to improve access to healthy foods

On President’s Day, a teachable moment: Trumpers may huff and puff but will they blow our Democracy down?

Meet The Blogger

rls58

Subscribe by Email

Posts from related blogs

The “People 2 Watch” List For 2021

Meet The Blogger

Glenn Murray

Glenn Murray’s Tweets

Subscribe to “Stop, Look, Listen”

Recent posts

Monthly Archives

Latest on ChicagoNow

Posts from related blogs

Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers

Candace Jordan

Dennis Byrne

LeaGrover

An Ode to Suspenders

Subscribe to our mailing list

Recent posts

Meet The Blogger

lesraff

Subscribe by Email

Monthly Archives

Recent Comments

Latest on ChicagoNow

Posts from related blogs

Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers

Candace Jordan

Dennis Byrne

LeaGrover

Hillary Clinton can rob a bank every Friday night and steal the collection plate on Sunday

Subscribe by Email

Subscribe NOW !!!

Meet The Blogger

Bob Abrams

Categories

Monthly Archives

Latest on ChicagoNow

Posts from related blogs

Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers

Candace Jordan

Dennis Byrne

LeaGrover

An overdue list of pandemic diversions

Subscribe by Email

Meet The Blogger

Marianne Goss

Recent posts

Recent Comments

Monthly Archives

Categories

Tags

Latest on ChicagoNow

Posts from related blogs

Read these ChicagoNow blogs

Read these ChicagoNow Bloggers

Candace Jordan

Dennis Byrne

LeaGrover

Jill Biden: Fashion plate?

Meet The Blogger

Aquinas wired

Recent posts