# Missouri Eighth-Grader Is State's Youngest COVID Victim



## Robert59 (Nov 2, 2020)

A 13-year-old boy in Missouri has become the state's youngest coronavirus fatality. The Washington School District says the family of eighth-grader Peyton Baumgarth has confirmed that he died from COVID-19 complications over the weekend, NBC reports. Peyton last attended school on Oct. 22 and went into quarantine on Oct. 26. 

https://www.newser.com/story/298222/boy-13-is-missouris-youngest-covid-victim.html


----------



## StarSong (Nov 3, 2020)

This is so tragic because it was completely preventable.  How terrible for this boy's family and friends.


----------



## win231 (Nov 3, 2020)

StarSong said:


> This is so tragic because it was completely preventable.  How terrible for this boy's family and friends.


What would have prevented it?


----------



## AnnieA (Nov 3, 2020)

win231 said:


> What would have prevented it?



Online classes, strict precautions due to his risk factor of morbid obesity. 

Recent photo from a local news report.


----------



## 911 (Nov 3, 2020)

AnnieA said:


> Online classes, strict isolation due to his risk factor of morbid obesity.
> 
> Recent photo from a local news report.


What is wrong with these parents? Unless this child has a physical malady that causes his obesity, the parents should have been tending more to his physical needs of less junk food and more exercise. StarSong is right. This could have been prevented. I have seen many kids looking like this young man and there is no excuse for it, unless, as I have already stated that the child has a physical problem that leads or causes obesity.


----------



## win231 (Nov 3, 2020)

AnnieA said:


> Online classes, strict isolation due to his risk factor of morbid obesity.
> 
> Recent photo from a local news report.


I suspected there were other (far-more-serious) physical issues going on that are usually not mentioned.  _Anything_ in his case would have likely killed him; even a cold or the flu.  Imagine what his lungs were going through without any respiratory illness - trying to expand with each breath, while encased in fat.
And, online classes & isolation likely wouldn't have helped his most serious problem.


----------



## AnnieA (Nov 3, 2020)

win231 said:


> ... Imagine what his lungs were going through without any respiratory illness - trying to expand with each breath, while encased in fat. ...



It's not just the physical burden of excess fatty tissue, but also the chronic inflammation associated with morbid obesity.   There's also the likelihood of lower levels of protective nutritional factors such as vitamin D levels if the diet is primarily junk food.


----------



## win231 (Nov 3, 2020)

911 said:


> What is wrong with these parents? Unless this child has a physical malady that causes his obesity, the parents should have been tending more to his physical needs of less junk food and more exercise. StarSong is right. This could have been prevented. I have seen many kids looking like this young man and there is no excuse for it, unless, as I have already stated that the child has a physical problem that leads or causes obesity.


I knew some kids in 7th grade in that condition.  I also attended some of their birthday parties & knew some of the parents.  Believe it or not, they actually _encouraged _their kids to overeat lots of junk food.  Coincidentally, their parents were also seriously overweight & probably felt more comfortable keeping their kids fat as well.  It helped the parents excuse that it couldn't be helped because it was totally genetic.

I ran into a 7th grade classmate & his parents at McDonald's.  They were in line in front of me.  He was at least 150 lbs. overweight & so were his parents.  As they were ordering, I heard the mother say to him:  "Make sure to finish both of your cheeseburgers because we have a lot of walking to do at the Fair."  I wanted to strangle her.


----------



## StarSong (Nov 3, 2020)

Standard American Diet (I always find its acronym, SAD, to be telling) strikes again.  Lots of meat, fat, dairy, sugar and corn syrup.  What could possibly go wrong?  
Add a serious virus for which there is no reliable treatment and no cure? Game over for many of the vulnerable.


----------



## 911 (Nov 3, 2020)

StarSong said:


> Standard American Diet (I always find its acronym, SAD, to be telling) strikes again.  Lots of meat, fat, dairy, sugar and corn syrup.  What could possibly go wrong?
> Add a serious virus for which there is no reliable treatment and no cure? Game over for many of the vulnerable.


I agree and you would like to believe that parents would be more diligent at a time like we are in now. Parents need to set an example by having good eating habits. I think it's fine to have a snack now and then, but make it a healthy snack. It's also OK for Moms and Dads to serve a dessert after dinner, so long as it isn't a bowl of empty calories like ice cream or a slice of cake. 

I see way too many obese kids.


----------



## 911 (Nov 3, 2020)

Giving this situation more thought, I hope the parents do accept some responsibility in this young man's death, but not to the point where they make themselves a victim or feel totally responsible. That would not be a good thing. I have seen parents break up over a child's death and that's just about as horrible as this death. If they have other children in the home, they need to make themselves available for them.


----------



## Don M. (Nov 3, 2020)

Missouri is just one of many states which are seeing record numbers of people getting this virus.  Most of the cases are being reported in the larger cities....Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, and Springfield....and in many of those cases the victims are getting this virus due to ignoring the mask and distancing cautions....and hanging out in crowds at the bars, etc.  College students, especially, are becoming "spreaders" as they hang out in groups, and party....then, spread the virus to their families when they go home for a visit.  Just a couple of days ago, the University in Columbia recommended that these kids get tested before they think of going home for Thanksgiving.    

The real tragedy, IMO, is the impact this virus is having on the students and teachers at the schools.  Working parents are having a real tough time trying to figure out how to maintain any kind of normalcy...not knowing from day to day if the schools will be "in person" or "virtual".


----------



## win231 (Nov 3, 2020)

911 said:


> Giving this situation more thought, I hope the parents do accept some responsibility in this young man's death, but not to the point where they make themselves a victim or feel totally responsible. That would not be a good thing. I have seen parents break up over a child's death and that's just about as horrible as this death. If they have other children in the home, they need to make themselves available for them.


IMO, parents who contribute to their child's death (and they often do) _should_ feel responsible.  And horrible.


----------



## Butterfly (Nov 4, 2020)

Back when I was in school (1952-1963), I can only remember one kid who was obese and he pretty much was more or less normal size by the end of junior high.  The rest of us, all through school, were of normal size -- a few a little heavier, but not enough to be called fat, and some a little skinnier.

I strongly believe it was because, first off, we got a lot of exercise, playing outside, walking to school and to other places, etc. (my dad would have laughed if I had suggested he take me over to a friend's house in the car.  Kids walked -- that just the way it was.

Also, I only remember one time that we got fast food, and there wasn't that much fast food around, anyway.  We ate at home, at real meals, together at the kitchen table, and didn't do a lot of snacking around, either.  My mother was big on saying "Put that down; you will ruin your dinner."  She also didn't keep much, if any junk food in the house and if you really were dying of starvation between means you could have an apple or something like that, not a whole package of oreos or potato chips.


----------



## StarSong (Nov 5, 2020)

Butterfly said:


> Back when I was in school (1952-1963), I can only remember one kid who was obese and he pretty much was more or less normal size by the end of junior high.  The rest of us, all through school, were of normal size -- a few a little heavier, but not enough to be called fat, and some a little skinnier.
> 
> I strongly believe it was because, first off, we got a lot of exercise, playing outside, walking to school and to other places, etc. (my dad would have laughed if I had suggested he take me over to a friend's house in the car.  Kids walked -- that just the way it was.
> 
> Also, I only remember one time that we got fast food, and there wasn't that much fast food around, anyway.  We ate at home, at real meals, together at the kitchen table, and didn't do a lot of snacking around, either.  My mother was big on saying "Put that down; you will ruin your dinner."  She also didn't keep much, if any junk food in the house and if you really were dying of starvation between means you could have an apple or something like that, not a whole package of oreos or potato chips.


All so true.  If you were thirsty you were directed to the sink.  Also, processed foods weren't a big thing and portions were so much smaller than they are now.  

I worked at a McDonald's during college in the early 70s. Big Macs had been introduced to the menu just a few years before. Most adults ordered a "regular" burger or cheeseburger, small fries and a small drink. "Growing boys" and construction workers went for the Big Macs.

The size and calorie counts of fast food meals bear little resemblance to their early predecessors.  Remember how little (relatively speaking) personal-sized bags of potato chips were back then?


----------

