Impact on excess weight

National

• Carrying excess weight was a risk factor for dying from COVID-19 - 7.9% of patients critically ill with COVID-19 had a BMI of over 40. (BMJ, 2020).
  
  
• The way people exercise changed during COVID-19 - while an estimated 1.9 m people stopped using a gym regularly, numbers of people exercising at home increased significantly (Sport England, 2021).
  
  
• Many people found managing weight difficult due to access obtaining healthy food, increased snacking at home, comfort eating and less exercise. (Slimming World).

Staffordshire

• Potential to increase child excess weight levels – already is a key issue locally pre pandemic, with 1 in 3 children active for less than 30 minutes a day and inactivity potentially increased during remote schooling.
  
  
• Obesity related hospital admissions in Staffordshire on an upward trend, from 563 in 2013/14 to 2,886 per 100,000 in 2019/20.  More recent unpublished data shows that Staffordshire obesity related hospital admissions fell during 2020/21 due to COVID-19.