Countries with high levels of overweight people, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, have the highest death rates from Covid-19, according to a reference report, which calls on governments to urgently address obesity and give priority to overweight people. for vaccinations.
About 2.2 million of the 2.5 million deaths caused by Covid occurred in countries with high levels of overweight people, according to the World Obesity Federation report. Countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy, where over 50% of adults are overweight, have the highest rates of coronavirus-related deaths.
The problem is not just obesity, but weight levels that many assume are normal in many countries. Mortality rates are 10 times higher if more than half of the adults had a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25 kg / m2 – the point at which normal weight becomes overweight.
Overweight people should be given higher priority for vaccinations and tests because of the increased risk of death, says the World Obesity Federation.
Of the countries where more than half of the adult population is overweight, Belgium has the highest death rate, followed by Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Italy and Portugal are on 5th and 6th, while the USA is on 8th.
In contrast, Vietnam has the lowest Covid mortality rate in the world and the second lowest level of overweight in the population.
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The Director-General of the World Health Organization said the report should act as a wake-up call to governments around the world to combat the obesity and poor health it causes.
“The correlation between obesity and Covid-19 mortality rates is clear and compelling,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Investing in public health and coordinated international action to address the root causes of obesity are one of the best ways for countries to build resilience in post-pandemic health systems: we urge all countries to seize this moment.”
The biggest factor in the number of deaths is age, the report says, but overweight is second. It is already known that people increase their risk of contracting infectious diseases such as the flu.
“We were shocked to see such a strong correlation between the proportion of an overweight adult in a country and her deaths from Covid-19,” said Dr. Tim Lobstein, author of the report and a former adviser to WHO and Public Health England.
“I knew there was a problem in a few countries, but I found it to be remarkably consistent around the globe – with only a few outliers like New Zealand and Iceland, where they took strong action to protect a vulnerable population.”
The risks increase with increasing weight. An analysis of the data seen by the Guardian shows that in the UK, where almost 64% of adults are overweight or obese, almost 20% of patients with Covid in intensive care are normal weight, 32% are overweight and 48% are obese. In the USA, where overweight and adult obesity are 68%, 12% of patients with Covid in intensive care are normal weight, 24% are overweight and 64% are obese.
The results allow for age and are not distorted by poor data in some countries, Lobstein said. Deaths tend to be accurately reported, even if hospitalizations are not. They adjusted for GDP and found that income levels did not play a role either. “There are rich countries with a low level of overweight, such as Japan and South Korea, and they have very low Covid death rates. Likewise, there are lower-income countries, such as South Africa and Brazil, where overweight now affects more than half the population, where we see high Covid-19 mortality rates, “he said.
“We now know that an overweight population is the next pandemic waiting to happen,” Lobstein said.
“Governments have been negligent and have ignored the economic value of a healthy population in danger. In the last decade, they have failed to address obesity, despite setting goals at United Nations meetings. Covid-19 is just the latest infection exacerbated by weight problems, but the warning signs were there. ”
Most countries will lose the UN goal of halving the level of obesity between 2010 and 2025. “It seems that governments want to avoid taking commercial interests in food and agriculture. Like global warming and ocean pollution – the issue needs global leadership, ensuring that industry and the market are there to serve the health of people and the health of the planet, ”he said.
It was a difficult call for individuals, because losing weight is very difficult. “People make a living selling individual weight plans and weight loss products, but in a society like ours, with its incentives for cheap food consumption and growing inequality, personal products are obviously not enough,” he said.
Michael R Bloomberg, WHO’s ambassador for noncommunicable diseases and injuries, said the results “underline the importance of combating obesity worldwide, including in low- and middle-income countries where rates are rising faster.” We have seen the positive impact that healthy food policies have in dozens of countries, and together we can make even greater progress in saving and improving lives. ”