Is Obesity A Risk Factor For Severe Illness From COVID-19?

As per research, Obesity is emerging as the biggest killer of humankind. For over two decades, obesity has surfaced into a bigger health crisis globally and in India, than hunger.

The most talked-about health condition in contemporary times is Overweight or Obesity. Also being considered a non-communicable disease, obesity is a prominent factor that increases the severity of almost all serious diseases. "The 2021 Atlas Report” released by the World Obesity federation on the occasion of World Obesity Day, observed on 4th March, clearly stated that obesity was one of the main reasons behind increasing the severity of the fatal coronavirus disease. Also, the mortality rate in countries with higher populations of overweight people was rather higher, as compared to countries where overweight prevalence is low.

What Do The Statistics Say?

According to The 2021 Atlas Report, 2.5 million COVID-19 deaths were reported by the end of February 2021, of which 2.2 million were of the countries where more than half of the population is classified as overweight. Based on the United Kingdom data, about 36% of the total COVID-19 cases in patients hospitalized were those who did lack physical activities and had excess body weight. “Fan et al (2020) estimated that 10.5% of positive COVID-19 test results were attributable to obesity, in a US population reported in the period between March 1st and May 14th, 2020.”

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), “COVID-19 will cause a total of at least $10 trillion losses in global output over the period 2020-2021, and accumulating to $22 trillion over the period 2020-2025.” It also speculates that the factors like obesity causing the severity of the disease can increase the cost by up to $6-7 trillion over a longer period.

BMI Of People Is Not Ideal In India

The research is done on various countries on the basis of the country’s conditions, estimated age of its citizens, medical development, and many other factors, and the data reflected on the reports of our country, India is pretty much concerning. According to the report, the BMI i.e. the Body Mass Index of adults is not ideal in our country. Among the people who were the subject of research, 19.7% of the people were overweight, while 3.9% were obese.

In India from the year 2010 to 2025, the number of obese people is probably going to increase. In 2010, there were about 2% of men who complained about obesity, which is estimated to increase to 5.3% by 2025. If we talk about the numbers, it is estimated that by 2025, about 26,321.8 men will be victims of obesity. At the same time, if we talk about the statistics related to women in this category, then in the year 2010, this figure was 4%, which is expected to increase 8.4 by 2025, which is 39,604.7 women.

In the recent past, there have also been cases of increasing problems of obesity in children. As far as stats related to children are in the same regard are concerned, the percentage of obese children and young people aged 5 to 19 years in 2010 was 1%, which is expected to increase to 5.1 percent by 2025, which is 18,294.1.

Food Has Also Affected The Death Rate

The research also followed an in-depth study about the food items that affect obesity. It was categorized into two categories: a healthy diet which includes pulses and root vegetables and an energy-rich diet including non-veg food, refined oils, and foods containing glucose and sugar. The results clearly showed that among those who died due to COVID-19, the number of those who consumed a healthy diet regularly was much lesser than the ones who were non-vegetarian, consumed sugary foods, and were victims of obesity.

Therefore, obesity has been a concerning condition for a while now and it is high time that we pay attention to our lifestyle and dietary habits. For overweight and obesity can lead to many other serious health conditions and even worsen them, one must stay focused on being healthy and fit.