COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas

Title : COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas

Subtitle : The cost of not addressing the global obesity crisis

Dated : March 2021

Link : https://www.worldobesityday.org/assets/downloads/COVID-19-and-Obesity-The-2021-Atlas.pdf

This document is very long - 227 pages

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Foreward

Welcome to our review of the links between COVID-19 and bodyweight, and the steps we need to take to avert future crises.

As we show in this report, increased bodyweight is the second greatest predictor of hospitalisation and a high risk of death for people suffering from COVID-19. Only old age rates as a higher risk factor.

The unprecedented economic costs of COVID-19 are largely due to the measures taken to avoid the excess hospitalisation and need for treatment of the disease. Reducing one major risk factor, overweight, would have resulted in far less stress on health services and reduced the need to protect those services from being overwhelmed.

We show that in those countries where overweight affects only a minority of the adult population, the rates of death from COVID-19 are typically less than one tenth the levels found in countries where overweight affects the majority of adults.

We also show that the drivers of overweight – especially high levels of consumption of processed foods – are associated with mortality from COVID-19.

Lastly, we show that COVID-19 is not a special case: a number of other respiratory viruses lead to more severe consequences in people living with excess bodyweight, giving good reasons to expect the next pandemic to have similar effects.

For these reasons we need to recognise overweight as a major risk factor for infectious diseases including respiratory viruses. To prevent pandemic health crises in future requires action now: we call on all readers to support the World Obesity Federation’s call for stronger, more resilient economies that prioritise investment in people’s health.
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And we need to stop looking at obesity as a single problem and see it as part of a much bigger picture.

Another area where BPS could have a hugely positive influence but simply cannot be arsed because they're too busy chasing accolades and building their own careers making up problems. Real.world.problems are too difficult and you might upset some powerful lobbying group along the way.

 

reads like it is written by oblivious school children . i think it is logical to consider many health conditions that limit mobility and activity cause large numbers of people to become overweight thus leading to higher mortality since people who already have significant health challenges have less resources for fighting of opportunistic infections .