Chapel Hill Review

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers found a connection between COVID-19 risk and obesity based on reviewing published reports about individuals infected. 

Based on published literature, the university's researchers determined that individuals with a body mass index of more than 30 are at a higher risk of death, a UNC news release on Aug. 26 said, adding that hospitalizations and intensive care are more likely as well. The review also found other complications linked to obesity in relation to COVID-19. 

In addition, obesity is at a higher risk of underlying health conditions that increase the risk of catching the coronavirus. 

"All of these factors can influence immune cell metabolism, which determines how bodies respond to pathogens, like the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus," Melinda Beck, review co-author and a nutrition professor at Gillings School of Global Public Health, said in the UNC release. "Individuals with obesity are also more likely to experience physical ailments that make fighting this disease harder, such as sleep apnea, which increases pulmonary hypertension, or a body mass index that increases difficulties in a hospital setting with intubation."

Approximately 40% of Americans are obese, and lockdowns make it more difficult for people to maintain a healthy weight. 

"We're not only at home more and experience more stress due to the pandemic, but we're also not visiting the grocery store as often, which means the demand for highly processed junk foods and sugary beverages that are less expensive and more shelf-stable has increased," lead author Barry Popkin, a professor at the university's Gillings School of Global Public Health, said in the release. "These cheap, highly processed foods are high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat and laden with highly refined carbohydrates, which all increase the risk of not only excess weight gain but also key noncommunicable diseases."