The risk of dying from coronavirus is linked to obesity in men and younger adults, according to a recent study.
“Obesity plays a profound role in COVID-19 mortality risk, particularly in male patients and younger populations.” told the researchers in the study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study suggested that a high body mass index (BMI) was more strongly associated with more recent coronavirus death in men and younger adults compared with women and older adult patients. The correlation was independent of other comorbidities related to obesity such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung and renal disease, heartbeat, and myocardial infarction, which are risk factors for poor outcomes in cases of coronavirus, according to a news release.
Researchers analyzed 6,916 electronic health records of Kaiser Permanente patients in Southern California who tested positive for new coronavirus in the period February 13, 2020, through May 2, 2020, according to the Kaiser Permanente release. In the study, the average BMI was 30.5 and those with a 45 or higher were considered extremely obese, 40 to 44 is highly obese and a BMI of 30 to 39 was considered obese, according to the health system report.
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The researchers found that patients who were extremely obese were 4 times more likely to die from recent coronavirus death and those with severe obesity were almost 3 times more likely to be compared to those with a normal weight range, according to the release.
“By looking at the risk that obesity poses through the prism of COVID-19, this study pursues the characterization of obesity as a disease that requires a public health and clinical response similar to that for diabetes as a heart disease,” senior author Sameer B Murali, a physician for internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center, explained on the health institute’s website. “One pandemic is expanding our understanding of another, and we hope that this work will not only give doctors and patients a better understanding of the risks of obesity in the establishment of COVID19, but also the general health.
However, the study found that COVID-19-related deaths were more prevalent in the category of pregnant and extremely obese people who were 60 years of age and younger, compared to those who were severely obese and more than 60 years old, who were less at risk.
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Meanwhile, women did not have an increased risk of death associated with high BMI. The researchers stated that they were in control of the variety of risks previously reported in the literature and found no increased risk of COVID-19-related deaths associated with black or Latinx identity by themselves.
The authors of the study said that this study will help doctors identify who is at high risk of dying from COVID-19 and they can then implement appropriate treatment plans and interventions to reverse that risk.
“Our main goal in this paper was to understand risk related to obesity, and obesity-associated chronic conditions in our health care system,” said researcher Sara Y. Tartof, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, in a report.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have listed obesity (BMI of 30 or higher) as a risk factor for increased risk of serious COVID-19 disease.
