Obesity increased the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 positivity in children

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it has become a public health need to identify the most common risk factors and pre-existing conditions associated with COVID-19 morbidity and severity. Of the currently identified risk factors in the COVID-19 literature, obesity has become a concern as it is a common pre-existing condition in many populations. It has been observed that people with excessive body weight may experience a more severe course of COVID-19 disease. 1 A connection between obesity and COVID-19 is that COVID-19 disease severity is linked to respiratory dysfunctions, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. These common adverse health outcomes can result from obesity. 2,3 Another connection is that obesity-mediated inflammation can cause alterations to the airways and immune system that can affect the severity of COVID-19 disease for an individual. 3 The overwhelming majority of published literature regarding COVID-19 and obesity has focussed exclusively on adult populations (18+ years of age). The effects of childhood obesity on COVID-19 are not yet adequately understood. The sources that