When it comes to COVID-19, people with diabetes and hypertension, among other factors, are at increased risk of serious illness.
However, obesity is also a less discussed risk factor , even though it affects more people.
Growing problem
Specifically, adults with Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 who are obese have a 113% higher risk of being hospitalized , a 74% higher risk of entering the intensive care unit, and a 48% higher risk of dying from the disease than normal weight or overweight adults.
This is suggested by a systematic review and meta-analysis , published in Obesity Reviews , which includes 75 international studies that examined the association of excess weight across the spectrum of COVID-19, from infection to death.
The effect sizes they found surprised even nutritionist Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill and one of the study authors.
This appears to occur because the immune system of obese people is impaired , in addition to the fact that there are many metabolic dysfunctions that accompany obesity, and the adipose tissues become inflamed quite easily .
We also know that visceral adiposity has an effect on the deterioration of the lungs, and since the lungs are so affected by COVID, this has become another important factor to consider .
Caring for obese people in the hospital (moving them, etc.) is also more difficult, and vaccines may also be less effective with them (with the flu vaccine, this is already the case ).
We have 2 billion people around the world who are overweight and obese, and this will soon reach 2.5 billion. Obesity is one of the main problems we face from a health point of view . Not a single country in the world has less than 20% of people who are overweight or obese. Many of the poorest nations now face overweight and obesity levels of 30%, 40%, 50% or more.
Furthermore, the pandemic seems to be increasing the cases of obesity, because people eat worse and do less physical activity, probably also due to the increase in anxiety given the current critical situation.
Nor can we embarrass people with obesity, naturally. We have to realize that there are many environmental causes that we need our administrations to eliminate or regulate . We simply have to approach the problem as it is done with diabetes or hypertension, without stigmatizing the obese, nor labeling any criticism of obesity as fat-phobic.