Bariatric Medicine: Struggles and Lessons Learned in the New World of COVID-19

Impact of COVID-19 from a Nutritional Perspective

Angel Luk, RD, IOC Dip Sp Nut
Registered Dietitian
Richmond Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Clinic
Richmond, BC

Angel Luk,  is a registered dietitian with the College of Dietitians of British Columbia.  She has been working as a clinical dietitian within Vancouver Coastal Health since 2012 in a variety of settings and has been with the Richmond Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Clinic since 2016. Angel is a published author of a sports nutrition book and was the co-creator of a hands-on culinary nutrition course called The Physician in the Kitchen.

Presentation Overview:

When WHO declared covid-19 to be a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020, everyone’s lives changed. From a nutritional perspective, people struggling with weight management were affected in a wide range of ways along with the rest of the world. Depending on socioeconomic factors such as job and financial security as well as baseline physical and mental health illnesses, or presence of emotional eating or disordered eating patterns, people living with obesity needed to find new ways of coping with the impacts of coronavirus on their daily lives and already compromised health. Today’s talk will be an overview of the anecdotal impacts of covid-19 noted within our VCH – RMBS patient population.