“Wokeness” Smothering Truth That Kills Many

A 19th century illustration titled The Hottentot Venus in the Salon of the Duchess of Berry, by Sebastien Coeure. The Venus was an enslaved woman named Sara Baartman who was displayed in exhibitions in England and France. Sabrina Strings explains in her book The Black Body how this helped contribute to the idea that fatness was related to blackness. Photo courtesy Meisterdrucke.

 

On a recent NPR Podcast: “Fat Phobia and it’s racist past and present” listeners were served up more taxpayer funded “woke” nonsense: “Today on the show, we go all the way back to the transatlantic slave trade to understand the racial origins of fat phobia and how Black people are still dealing with the consequences today. I’m Maddie Sofia, and this is SHORT WAVE, the daily science podcast.”

If the problem was solely the ridiculous attempts to connect alleged “fat phobia” to the slave trade, this would be more a frustration. In this case, the rising woke argument of dieting being racist smothers a truth killing people during the current COVID epidemic and must stop now. Let me explain.

 

First, it’s important to understand the crisis of obesity and particularly for the demographic NPR and others are gaslighting. From the CDC website: “Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.6%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (44.8%), non-Hispanic White adults (42.2%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (17.4%)… Adult obesity in the U.S. surpassed 40% for the first time in 2017-2018, according to the CDC, increasing from 30.5% in 1999-2000.” Also, according to the CDC, those with Obesity are three times more likely to be hospitalized after COVID infection. CDC claims “Obesity is linked to impaired immune function. Obesity decreases lung capacity and reserve and can make ventilation more difficult. A study of COVID-19 cases suggests that risks of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and death are higher with increasing BMI.” We know that the other greatest risk factors are obesity related: High blood pression and type 2 diabetes.

There is a clear connection between obesity and COVID deaths internationally. Fortune Magazine noted on Feb 7, 2021 that with Japan “no Group of 7 nation has had so few deaths since the pandemic started in earnest.” Japan has one of the lowest death rates in the world according to the same report. Japan has by far the oldest population among G7 nations (including the US) at 52, and age is a known risk of hospitalization and mortality with COVID, making Japan even more remarkable. What’s markedly different with Japan is the low rate of obesity, along with a prevalence of physical activity. It is common for Japanese Corporations to have group physical training. Other low-obesity demographics, like the peoples of Oceania, show the same.

Beyond the data showing the rising rates of obesity and drastically greater risks of hospitalizations/death with COVID, the government response has greatly exacerbated the obesity problem. From US News and World Report, (Kaia Hubbard Sept 15, 2021): “In 2020, 16 states had adult obesity rates at or above 35%, up from 12 states the previous year. The changing numbers can partly be tied to the coronavirus pandemic, which…  “created obstacles to physical activity, and heightened stress,” according to the report from the Trust for America’s Health.

Since the pandemic began, 42% of adults in the U.S. reported gaining an undesired amount of weight, according to a Harris Poll conducted in February 2021. U.S. adults reported gaining an average of 29 pounds.”

 

That Americans have gained an average of 29 points from the beginning of the Pandemic to September 2021 is the ultimate alarm. It should be the top news story everywhere. Instead, the Left continues to bury it and encourage the “obstacles” to losing weight. Democratic “Blue” states and cities have issued draconian shutdown orders against gyms, and forced people inside their homes to do nothing but eat. They have demanded outdoor masks, making physical exercise all but impossible. Progressive mainstream media sources news sources like NPR attempt to squelch any discussion of the problem through cries of “racism” over dieting and fitness, despite the horrendous effect on populations which have the highest rates of Obesity.

The data about the connection between shutdowns/quarantines with preventing COVID spread is mixed at best. From comparing countries that didn’t shut down, like Sweden for example, with nations with the most draconian shut downs, there seems to have been little benefit to lockdowns in the long term. Unlike what Biden and Dr. Fauci told America in early 2021, the vaccine does not prevent transmission of the virus. The apparent benefit of the vaccine seems to be the lower risk of severe hospitalizations and death. Those numbers are argued among scientists, though no scientist of any repute has challenged the obesity numbers and the connection to hospitalization and death.

It’s time the hard truth prevails affects our COVID strategy. Many Americans need to lose weight to survive COVID, and they need to know why. Gyms should be opened and highly encouraged. Masks should never be demanded outdoors and particularly while working out. We should be using as much encouragement for fitness and diet as the Biden administration has used for vaccines. Importantly, we need to stop letting “wokeness” continue to kill us by smothering the hard truths that save lives.

 

Bill Connor, is an Orangeburg, S.C. attorney, Army Infantry Colonel and author of the book “Articles from War.” 

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