Working from home ‘fuelling a health crisis’, warns expert

WORKING from home could be fuelling a health crisis as Scots pile on the pounds, a doctor has warned.

Professor Naveed Sattar, of the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, believes many people have seen their step count fall drastically as they no longer need to commute or walk around offices.

Obesity is known to directly impact the severity of Covid infections but underlying chronic illnesses may also be exacerbated due to lockdown weight gain.

Getting out more is believed to be an easy way to reduce the risk, with activities such as going to museums and galleries suggested.

Professor Sattar, who is due to publish a report on obesity as a risk factor for severe Covid-19, said: ‘While a big health issue going forward is long Covid, population-wide changes in weight gain are starting to emerge strongly.

‘I see it in our clinics and when we speak to people, and one of the biggest drivers for that is people’s activity levels have plummeted because working from home means they are not having that regular commute.

‘We have all massively underestimated how much commuting people did even if they drove in a car – going to work you are parking the car and they might walk ten minutes dropping it off and walking back, you are walking around work.

‘I have had patients who have just basically sat on the computer all day for work, and some individuals whose average step count was around 1,000 per day, which is nothing – the equivalent of ten minutes walking a day. Previously, they would have been doing 6,000 or 7,000 without even thinking about it.

‘It is a major problem because if the population on average is gaining one or two kilograms, it might not seem a lot, but it is probably driven by a sub-population that has put on half a stone – that is going to lead to more diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and lung disease.

‘It is going to accelerate many of the conditions that obesity is associated with and that will place an even greater burden on the NHS, where a lot of people who have chronic illnesses haven’t presented because of the pandemic.’

Professor Sattar’s report states that evidence from multiple sources now links morbid obesity to risk for severe Covid19 outcomes.

Many of the conditions associated with adverse Covid outcomes, such as type 2 diabetes and chronic lung disease, are also strongly linked to obesity.

Professor Sattar added: ‘Change in life circumstances is accelerating weight gain in many in the population.

‘All of these facts mean that governments around the world, and particularly where obesity levels are already high, need to prioritise obesity prevention and management efforts.

‘Any initiative that allows people to be more active, to be outside and find other things to occupy their mind is welcome.

‘Culture and leisure are vehicles to help people get out the door, walk and enjoy new things in new, fresh environments.

‘People have got to enjoy their lives – culture and leisure is part of enjoying their lives and helping them to be more physically active.

‘We need, particularly in the less affluent areas of our society, to engage and help people find the things that are going to make their lives a bit more enjoyable, to help widen horizons.

‘Going to a museum, walking around a museum for an hour – that is a lot of steps. You have to get to the museum, walk around it, looking at new things – it is a win win.’

‘It is a major problem’