>>> ONE OF THE UNEXPECTED SIDE EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
FOR MANY HAS BEEN WEIGHT GAIN. ALL OF THAT TIME INSIDE WITH
LIMITED EXERCISE AND SNACKS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS MAY BE TAKING
ITS TOLL. IT'S BEING CALLED THE
"QUARANTINE 15," AND FOR PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLE WITH THEIR WEIGHT
OR HAVE DIABETES OR A HEART CONDITION, POTENTIAL WEIGHT GAIN
CAN LEAD TO OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS.
DR. JOHN ROMANELLI, THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF BAYSTATE HEALTH'S
GENERAL SURGERY AND BARIATRIC SURGERY, DISCUSSED THE ISSUE
WITH CAROLEE MCGRATH. >> CERTAINLY WITHOUT MUCH
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, WE'RE ALL AT RISK OF WEIGHT GAIN AS WE GET
OLDER. MANY PEOPLE ARE USING THE TERM
"THE QUARANTINE 15" OR THE PANDEMIC 15 OR THE COVID 15.
I LIKE TO POINT OUT THERE'S A DASH IN THERE AND THE DASH
STANDS FOR MINUS. IT SHOULD BE THE QUARANTINE
MINUS 15, RIGHT? WE SHOULD USE TIME AWAY FROM
WORK TO TRY TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GET HEALTHIER.
>> WE SHOULD, BUT IT'S REALLY HARD I WOULD SAY, ESPECIALLY
WHEN YOU HAVE EVERYBODY AT HOME. I THINK THE OTHER PROBLEM THAT
PEOPLE ARE FACING IS THIS, YOU KNOW, BOREDOM.
YOU GET THROUGH WITH SO MUCH WORK OR SO MUCH SCHOOLWORK, AND
THEN IT'S RAINING OUTSIDE, AND THE PANTRY'S RIGHT THERE.
I THINK THAT'S A BIG PROBLEM. >> ABSOLUTELY TRUE.
AND I THINK MAKING GOOD FOOD CHOICES WHEN YOU ARE GOING TO
THE PANTRY, HAVE AN APPLE. DON'T HAVE A PROCESSED SWEET.
YOU KNOW, MAKING BETTER FOOD CHOICES WHEN YOU'RE AT HOME IS
THE KEY TO WARDING OFF THE UNNECESSARY CALORIES THAT ARE SO
TEMPTING. >> TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
YOUR ROLE AS THE HEAD OF BARIATRIC SURGERY AT BAYSTATE.
SOMETIMES, PEOPLE WILL SAY FLIPPANTLY I'M GOING TO GAIN
WEIGHT DURING THIS QUARANTINE, BUT IT'S A SERIOUS ISSUE
ESPECIALLY FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THEIR WEIGHT
THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. >> AND THE SCARY THING IS IT
SEEMS THAT OBESE PEOPLE ARE FAR WORSE WHEN THEY GET COVID-19.
SO AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO VIEWERS IS THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF
WHY BEING OVERWEIGHT IS NOT HEALTHY FOR YOU.
WE'VE SEEN IT IN THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE WITH COVID-19, THAT
THE PATIENTS THAT DID THE WORST, THEY ACTUALLY WEREN'T THE
ELDERLY NECESSARILY. THEY WERE THE OVERWEIGHT OLDER
PEOPLE. SO WE WORRY ABOUT MORBIDLY OBESE
PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY'RE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO MANY DIFFERENT
DISEASES. OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE ARE MORE
LIKELY TO BE DIABETIC, THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE HIGH BLOOD
PRESSURE, THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THINGS LIKE SLEEP APNEA AND
HIGH LIPIDS IN THE BLOOD AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL IN THE BLOOD.
ALMOST EVERY BODY SYSTEM IS AFFECTED BY BEING OVERWEIGHT.
SO TO GO BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL QUESTION ABOUT WHAT'S MY ROLE AS
THE DIRECTOR OF BARIATRIC SURGERY, I DO OPERATIONS FOR
PEOPLE DESIGNED TO MAKE THEM LOSE WEIGHT AND THIS IS FOR
PEOPLE THAT ARE ABOUT 100 POUNDS OVER THEIR IDEAL BODY WEIGHT.
BUT THE IDEA IS NOT TO MAKE THEM THINNER OR SKINNIER.
IT'S TO MAKE THE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE GO AWAY AND THE
DIABETES GO AWAY AND THE LIVER PROBLEMS AND KIDNEY PROBLEMS,
ALL IMPROVE. IT'S TO MAKE PEOPLE HEALTHIER,
NOT THINNER. >> BUT TELL ME A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT THAT. OBVIOUSLY, IT'S SORT OF AN
UNEXPECTED, MAYBE NOT FOR A DOCTOR AN UNEXPECTED FALLOUT,
BUT I THINK FOR MANY YOU KNOW, AMERICANS, YOU KNOW, HERE'S
ANOTHER FALLOUT OF THIS PERIOD OF ISOLATION.
WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE OBESE, THE CDC'S NUMBERS
FROM 2017-2018 SAID THAT ADULTS, 42 % OF ADULTS ARE CONSIDERED
OBESE. IT'S A BIG PROBLEM.
>> YEAH, THE NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING.
I MEAN, WE ARE GETTING HEAVIER AS A SOCIETY.
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE. AND I THINK THE MESSAGE HERE IS
THAT YOU HAVE SOME CONTROL OVER THIS.
WE HAVE TO GET MOVING AS A SOCIETY, AND I UNDERSTAND WITH
SOCIAL DISTANCING AND WITH ISOLATION AND STAY AT HOME
MEASURES, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE SOMEONE THAT GOES TO THE GYM
REGULARLY AND THE GYM IS CLOSED, YOU KNOW, A BIG TOOL WAS TAKEN
AWAY FROM YOU. I UNDERSTAND THAT.
IT IS SAFE TO GO OUTSIDE AND GET FRESH AIR AND WHETHER THAT'S
GOING FOR A WALK, WHETHER THAT'S GOING FOR A RUN, WHETHER THAT'S
RIDING A BICYCLE, I PERSONALLY GO CYCLING ON THE BIKE TRAIL IN
WESTFIELD AND SOUTHWICK AND THERE ARE DOZENS OF PEOPLE OUT
THERE GETTING EXERCISE. SO -- AND THEY'RE ALL STAYING
SIX FEET FROM ONE ANOTHER AND MANY ARE WEARING FACE MASKS BUT
PEOPLE ARE GETTING EXERCISE AND STAYING SAFE.
THEY'RE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. SO GET MOVING, FOLKS.
>> HOW DO YOU HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE EMOTIONAL EATERS?
WHEN IT'S A RAINY DAY AND YOU'RE FEELING A LITTLE BIT BLUE
BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE FAMILY MEMBERS OR WHATEVER, I MEAN,
IT'S REALLY HARD TO BREAK THAT. WHAT ARE SOME PRACTICAL
STRATEGIES, IN ADDITION TO GOING OUTSIDE AND GETTING EXERCISE, TO
KIND OF BREAK THROUGH THAT CYCLE?
>> SO I REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THE TERM "SOCIAL DISTANCING."
SO SOCIAL DISTANCING IMPLIES YOU CAN'T SEE OUR TALK TO ANYONE OR
BE IN COMMUNICATION WITH ANYONE. YOU KNOW, MY CHILDREN FACETIME
WITH THEIR GRANDPARENTS EVERY SUNDAY, BOTH SETS OF
GRANDPARENTS, JUST SO MY PARENTS AND MY WIFE'S PARENTS CAN SEE
THEIR GRANDCHILDREN. THEY CAN'T BE IN THE SAME ROOM
AS THEM AND THEY LIVE IN DIFFERENT STATES, BUT THEY SEE
THEM EVERY WEEK. SO WE'RE NOT SOCIALLY DISTANCED.
WE'RE STAYING AS CONNECTED AS EVER.
I WOULD TELL PEOPLE STAY CONNECTED YOUR LOVED ONES, STAY
CONNECTED WITH YOUR FRIENDS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE IN THEIR
PRESENCE TO BE CONNECTED. SO WE SHOULD BE USING THE
TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS WE NOW HAVE TO STAY CONNECTED.
I MEAN, THINK ABOUT IF THIS PANDEMIC HIT 30 YEARS AGO.
WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE? WE DIDN'T HAVE CELL PHONES, WE
DIDN'T HAVE LAPTOP COMPUTERS, WE DIDN'T HAVE COMMUNICATION
PLATFORMS LIKE WE'RE USING NOW. WE HAVE MORE TOOLS THAN EVER TO
STAY CONNECTED AND IT DOESN'T MEAN WE NEED TO BE WITHIN SIX
FEET OF ONE ANOTHER. >> HOW WOULD YOU ADVISE CHILDREN
DURING ALL OF THIS AS WELL? BECAUSE WHEN YOU GO TO SCHOOL,
THERE'S THAT CERTAIN ROUTINE AND YOU HAVE SNACK TIME MAYBE AT
10:00 AND YOU HAVE LUNCH AT 12:00 AND HOW DO YOU HELP
PARENTS KEEP THEIR KIDS ON TRACK IF THEY'RE STRUG TOO LONG KEEP
ON TRACK? >> IT'S AN ABSOLUTELY FAIR
QUESTION AND WITH FAMILIES THAT HAVE TWO WORKING PARENTS, IT'S
REALLY HARD TO PULL OFF. BUT WHAT I WOULD TELL PARENTS IS
TRY TO KEEP YOUR KIDS ON A SCHEDULE SIMILAR TO THEIR SCHOOL
SCHEDULE. SO THAT MEANS DON'T DO THE
SCHOOLWORK AT 8:00 AT NIGHT. DO IT AT 10:00 IN THE MORNING
WHEN THEY WOULD BE DOING IT AT SCHOOL.
FEED THEM AT THE TIME THEY WOULD NORMALLY BE IN THE CAFETERIA,
ALTHOUGH I WOULD ARGUE SOMETIMES, THAT'S A LITTLE EARLY
IN THE DAY, BUT TRY TO DO THEIR MEALS AROUND WHEN THEY NORMALLY
WOULD EAT. TRY TO DO THE ACTIVITIES THAT
THEY DO VIRTUALLY. MY BOYS BOTH ARE MARTIAL ARTISTS
AND THEY DO ONLINE KARATE CLASSES AT THE REGULAR TIME THEY
WOULD BE HAVING THEM. SO WE TRY TO KEEP OUR KIDS ON AS
NORMAL A SCHEDULE AS CAN BE IN THIS ABNORMAL TIME THAT WE'RE IN
AND THAT SENSE OF STRUCTURE GIVES THEM COMFORT.
>> SO YOU OBVIOUSLY WORK WITH MANY, MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
YOU'VE DONE SURGERIES ON MANY PEOPLE.
WHAT IF SOMEBODY HAS BACKTRACKED DEDURING THIS TIME?
MAYBE YOU HAD A BAD DAY, AND THEY HAD BEEN TRYING TO DO WELL
AND EAT WELL. WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE THEM?
>> THAT IT'S COMPLETELY NORMAL. SO THIS IS A TREMENDOUSLY
STRESSFUL TIME. SO HEALTHY WAYS OF RELIEVING
STRESS ARE IMPORTANT. GOOD COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILY
AND FRIENDS IS IMPORTANT. REACHING OUT TO YOUR HEALTHCARE
PROVIDERS. AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE I WANT YOUR
VIEWERS TO HEAR IS IT IS COMPLETELY SAFE TO COME TO THE
HOSPITAL. DON'T STAY AT HOME IF YOU HAVE A
MEDICAL PROBLEM THAT NEEDS URGENT ATTENTION BECAUSE WHEN
YOU DO COME IN, IT MIGHT NOT BE A FIXABLE PROBLEM.
YOU'RE NOT LIKELY TO GET COVID BY COMING TO THE HOSPITAL.
WE HAVE THOSE PATIENTS IN SPRINGFIELD IN THEIR OWN
ISOLATED WARDS. IF YOU NEED TO HAVE EMERGENT
MEDICAL CARE, SEEK IT, PLEASE, BECAUSE IF IT'S TOO LATE, WE
CAN'T HELP YOU. AND TO YOUR QUESTION, YOU KNOW,
FOR THOSE THAT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH SAY DEPRESSION OR ANXIETY
AND SEE MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS, THEY'RE STILL THERE FOR YOU.
AND USE YOUR RESOURCES. YOU KNOW, IF YOU NEED HELP, GET
HELP. IT'S AVAILABLE.