Wow, my students have gotten really FAT!

I've noticed since the pandemic began my students have become
very noticeably corpulent.  I guess it was inevitable. They don't
even walk to school these days.  But even during a normal school
schedule, they don't get much exercise. But I think this really
happened with the advent of cell phones.  For adults it is when
they buy a car.

Their parents are afraid of the coronavirus so keep them inside where they eat sugary snacks and play video games / cell phone games / watch TV all day. Ironically, this (the deprivation of sunlight and exercise from playing outside) weakens their immune system, making them more susceptible.

I too have noticed an alarming increase in kids getting chubby and fat. On the flip side, I regularly see the kids on the track team training at the local stadium and DAMN! These kids have the endurance of freakin' terminators. Then again, it's no
surprise since the lazy ass coach typically has them spending 80-90% of their time jogging laps since he's obviously too lazy to do drills, plyo or anything that requires him to do more than sit on his phone for 40min.

I digress...

Has anyone noticed the utterly pathetic hand eye coordination of most of the students? Toss a kid a plush ball and 80% will fail to catch it. It's so bad that they're still playing t-ball at 12-13yrs of age as they lack the coordination to hit a ball with a bat.
Many still miss the damn ball, even when it's not being thrown,

You have heard of the “freshman 15”?

This is the “Covid 19”!

You have heard of the “freshman 15”?

This is the “Covid 19”!

Mods? FFS Kyndo, why aren't you doing your job?

 

I've noticed the same thing among some of my work colleagues  since we effectively went into lock down last March and have been working remotely via Zoom. The first three months were the worst when all the gym were forced to close and exercise was only permitted outdoors in very small groups that maintained adequate social distancing. It was very effective limiting the spread of Covid-19 though. It also just about eliminated the influenza flew season.

I've noticed the same thing among some of my work colleagues  since we effectively went into lock down last March and have been working remotely via Zoom. The first three months were the worst when all the gym were forced to close and exercise was only permitted outdoors in very small groups that maintained adequate social distancing. It was very effective limiting the spread of Covid-19 though. It also just about eliminated the influenza flew season.

Yes, I don't think anybody anticipated the decline in flu cases. I wonder how long
it will last for.

Yes, I don't think anybody anticipated the decline in flu cases. I wonder how long
it will last for.

Why would you think that?

Everybody expected declines in all communicable diseases.

Why would you think that?

Everybody expected declines in all communicable diseases.

When this started for us back in March last year I had very few expectations at all just a great deal of unknowns. However we soon worked out that the disease would only be suppressed when 90% of the population adhered to strict social distancing.  Once the disease is out and spreading in the community it's very hard to suppress and takes much longer to virtually eliminate. In our state it has been eliminated from spreading in the community. There is still an ever present threat that it can escape one of the medivac quarantine hotels and we'll have to go back into full lockdown. This happens occasionally but with very small numbers, social distancing compliance, high testing rates and effective contact tracing we've been able to get it back under control to the point of eliminating community spread. Nobody has died from Covid-19 in our state since April last year.  But getting to your point about expectations, without strict adherence from 90% of the population I wouldn't have many expectations for success. In a country like South Korea I'd expect that would be a challenge. The study below indicates compliance rates of as high as 70% have little effect in controlling the spread.

A compliance of below 70% is unlikely to succeed for any duration of SD, while a compliance at the 90% level is found to control the disease within 13–14 weeks, when coupled with effective CI, HQ and international travel restrictions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19393-6#Sec2

Koreans have gotten heavier over the past ten years in general.  Though still less than the west.