
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. |
CNBC
About 78% of people who have been hospitalized, needed a ventilator or died from Covid-19 have been overweight or obese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new study Monday. Just over 42% of the U.S. population was considered obese in 2018, according to the agency’s most recent statistics. Overweight is defined as having a body mass index of 25 or more, while obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or more. “As clinicians develop care plans for COVID-19 patients, they should consider the risk for severe outcomes in patients with higher BMIs, especially for those with severe obesity,” the CDC wrote. [
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Researchers report that 40 percent of people in the United States who have died from COVID-19 had type 1 or type 2 diabetes. They add that untreated diabetes can increase the severity of COVID-19. They note that having an inflammatory disease such as diabetes can increase the risks associated with COVID-19 as can accompanying conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity. [
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As Obesity Takes A Greater Toll In COVID Deaths, Health Officials Are Quiet
Steve Harrison, Claire Donnelly | WFAE
The children with COVID-19 in Dr. Eugene Daugherty’s pediatric intensive care unit often have one thing in common: obesity.
“At least 9 out of 10 patients that we’re seeing who are sick enough especially to be in the ICUs throughout the state, obesity plays a part in this,” said Daugherty, who is with Novant Health’s Children’s Hospital in Charlotte.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been numerous studies worldwide showing the heightened dangers that COVID-19 poses to people who are overweight. The World Obesity Federation, for instance, has shown that death rates from COVID-19 have been 10 times higher in countries where more than half of the population is overweight.