[munk-a]

Possibly in the short term - in the long term the quarantine is likely going to increase heart disease due to people having more sedentary life styles... It's quite likely this is just a result of the math of going to a hospital shifting - a lot of folks decide not to go to the hospital with minor chest pain due to other obligations[1] and the addition of the outbreak likely adds to the reasons not to go to the hospital.

1. Don't do this, go to the hospital if you feel something different in your chest.

[benburleson]

This is anecdotal, but I've never seen more people out walking around town than the last couple months.

Is there research showing people are more sedentary now?

[indecisive_user]

Crime is down, while domestic violence is up. That's evidence people are staying inside more.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52416330

As a counter anecdote, I know many people that only leave their house a few times per week, including for walks. They are definitely more sedentary now.

[guscost]

And you'd think deaths from auto accidents would be way down, but apparently not in Boston: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/05/04/coronavirus-covid-19-...

[wafn]

Anecdotally, around my town the lower number of drivers on the road seems to be causing those who remain to feel like traffic laws don't matter. I can't even count how many times I have seen blatant "it's red but there's no traffic so I'll just go" behaviors, along with ridiculous speeding and lane changing. Doesn't help that the police essentially announced that they won't be looking for crime anymore.

[harambaebae69]

I live in Boston and drive every day still. This is anecdotal - but I've seen the same amount of bad driving as ever (largely around merging, roundabouts, and turn signal usage) but now it's at a significantly higher speed because on I-95 and I-93 you can easily hit 85 mph instead of the customary 45 mph the whole way during rush hour.

I don't have any data, but I imagine that explains the similar serious accident rate.

[cat199]

> That's evidence people are staying inside more.

no, that's a big extrapolation..

one possible counterpoint: couples in healthy relationships could still be going out more, whereas those in dysfunctional ones might be fighting more due to more proximity or exascerbated economic hardship

[diego]

How many of those people would normally be walking in malls, stadiums or even gyms?

[jerzyt]

It would be nice for Fitbit to publish some research. They have the data.

[ravenstine]

That and I would suspect that people are eating more "junk", or carbs mixed with sugar and fat. I know I depression-ate out of my prepper stash for the first few weeks.