Sweetgreen CEO drops post linking obesity to pandemic after criticism

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Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman deleted a LinkedIn post he made on Tuesday that suggested obesity is the “root cause” of health problems, including COVID-19.

“78% of hospitalizations due to COVID are from obese and overweight people,” Neman wrote. “Is there an underlying issue that we may not have paid enough attention to?”

The CEO wrote that “no vaccine or mask will save us” from the virus, although he made it clear he was vaccinated and supported others to get vaccinated. “Our best bet is to learn how to live the best with it and to focus on overall health rather than preventing infection.”

Neman argued that since the coronavirus is not going anywhere anytime soon, the government should impose “health mandates” by banning or taxing unhealthy foods.

“What if we made the food that makes us sick illegal?” »The post read. “What if we taxed processed foods and refined sugar to pay for the impact of the pandemic? What if we promote health? “

The CEO’s post was quickly criticized for what some claimed was shame, Business Insider reported.

“This message is disgusting,” one person commented, while another called the message “incredibly big phobic”.

Neman deleted the post after Vice reported it on Wednesday, but admitted before doing so that commentators criticizing him made “some good points,” according to Business Insider.

Before removing the original post from LinkedIn, Neman wrote that he intended to “be a thought provoker on how we might think about health differently. [instead of just sickness] and tackle the root causes that kill us beyond the ones that make the news every day [COVID]”the New York Post reported.

Researchers found that vaccines and masks saved lives and reduced transmission of the coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study in March that found half of people hospitalized with COVID-19 were obese.

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