A weighty matter. Pandemic stay at home is fattening up the German population

Germans have gained weight during the nine month Pandemic. Forced to remain sheltered and being unable to exercise has caused a spike in weight gain amongst the food loving Germans.

Beer, bratwurst and bread consumption has spiked amongst the well endowed citizens of Deutschland.

Should a survey be taken amongst the terribly obese American public the findings would undoubtedly be worse.

Deutsche Welle 12.9.2020

A year of lockdowns and working from home appear to be taking their toll on Germans’ waistlines. A new study on health in the country notes an increase in weight gain since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Germans have gained weight since the country went into lockdown in the spring. That’s according to a new study on the state of health in the country published on Wednesday by Germany’s disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The report outlines how measures introduced to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus have also had negative effects on the health of the German populace.

German chocolate II 5.2017

Lubeck, Germany Chocolate Shop

Photo – Lee Heidhues

The study found that from April to August, Germans gained an average of around 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds), citing an increase in unhealthy eating, among other changes in daily behavior as a result of pandemic-related restrictions.

The RKI also noted that fewer people visited their doctors, both general practitioners and specialists, during the first lockdown in the spring. Germans have apparently “increasingly abstained from using medical services,” the study’s authors wrote. German hospitals also postponed many elective procedures in order to maintain space for a potential surge in COVID-19 patients.

Some 23,000 people in Germany aged 15 and older were surveyed via telephone from April 2019 to September of this year.

The study did not confirm initial fears that the pandemic or measures to contain it would lead to a rise in psychological disorders.

“No differences were found among the general population in terms of depression symptoms or the support received and provided in the household,” the studies authors said.

However, the RKI emphasized that there was “no unified picture” of the overall health situation in Germany and that further study was necessary.

There was also a decrease in the number of people smoking tobacco, but whether that is tied to the pandemic was unclear.

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-germans-gaining-weight-during-pandemic/a-55880622