The Pandemic within our Epidemic: Coronavirus and McAllen’s Obesity
“There are a series of risk factors that we worry about that if they overlay on this disease are going to cause bad outcomes and we happen to be right at ground zero for one of the major ones here in this country and that’s obesity.”
- Dr. Michael Osterholm, The Joe Rogan Experience
Raymus Media - Rio Grande Valley alternative music magazine
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An empty jogging track at Roosevelt park in McAllen.
With so many photos and posts on social media about panic-buying and banning large gatherings due to COVID-19, two kinds of posts remain noticeably absent: working out and eating healthy. Age, pre-existing conditions, and smoking are factors that increase risk of complications when infected with the virus, but another factor is obesity. With around 40% of American adults being obese, we already have an epidemic that exacerbates the effects of infection. Recently, the McAllen metropolitan area was ranked as the fattest in the US by Wallethub. In the subcategories, McAllen had the highest percentage of obese adults and physical inactivity, and third in rate of diabetes.
The widespread closing of businesses and events has lead to many people staying indoors, but it’s actually okay to get out and exercise at your local park or trail if you stay six feet away from others. Staying at home also creates inactivity and boredom which leads to eating junk food.
In addition to outdoor cardio, a small home workout space can be made with as little as a couple of dumbbells and an inflatable exercise ball, or just use your body weight for resistance. All this downtime creates a good opportunity to get creative and start healthy habits to stand a better chance against the virus, and to not be a negative statistic of the RGV. Creating a small home gym may be a trend even after the virus stops spreading, due to reluctance of sharing equipment in a fitness club.
As a Rio Grande Valley alternative music website, we would like to take this opportunity to share this playlist of workout songs by local artists. Support your local music scene which is suffering from the lack of concerts, and take care of yourselves whether the virus reaches you or not.
