Surprisingly, the risk of being overweight was even higher than that associated with obesity. Overweight patients are 40 percent more likely to die than healthy overweight patients, while obese patients are 30 percent more at risk than healthy overweight patients.
These findings clearly show that anyone with a BMI of 25 or higher is at risk of severe Covid-19, according to the study’s authors, SYY. Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at Downstate Health Science University, Dr. Rohan Maini, medical student.
But while obesity increased the risk of death for men, it could not do so for women, they noted. (Other studies have also reported this inequality.)
The British study examined lifestyle risk factors in 387,109 men and women, of whom 760 were Covid-19. People with the overweight virus are about 30 percent more likely to be hospitalized than those with a healthy weight; Those who were obese were almost twice as likely to be healthy overweight individuals.
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The study, published in the Journal of Brain, Behavior and Immunity in July, also looked at factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity levels and concluded that moderate exercise reduced the barriers to hospitalization.
“Socially distance physical activity can be a good intervention,” said Mark Hammer, a professor of sports and exercise at University College London and author of the paper. “It provides immune protection, and also helps in weight loss.”
Physical activity, which has been studied extensively, reduces the risk of developing chronic conditions associated with being overweight, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. But, it will not completely eliminate the risk of impaired immune function and acute inflammation, Dr. Pop. Warned Popkey.
