Strengthening resistance to the COVID-19 pandemic and fostering future resilience requires concerted action on obesity

Abstract

Initial observations showed that people with chronic noncommunicable diseases were at heightened risk of severe COVID-19 and adverse outcomes. Subsequently, data from various countries have revealed obesity as an independent and significant factor, with people who are overweight/ have obesity significantly more likely to be hospitalized, require ICU treatment, and to die. Notably, this additional risk applies to younger people relative to the general COVID-19 risk profile. This paper sets out the evidence of greater risk of poor COVID outcomes for people who are overweight/have obesity, indication of reduced treatment and support for obesity selfmanagement where it existed prior to COVID-19, and highlights the dearth of specific guidance and measures to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 upon people with obesity. We identify the health, social and economic impacts that this specific vulnerability creates relative to COVID-19 outcomes. Reduced national and global pandemic resilience due to high obesity prevalence should spur governments and funders to provide urgent specific protection and support for people with overweight/obesity, and to commission rapid research to identify effective prevention and reduction measures. We set out priorities for action on obesity to begin compensating for years of underfunding and inadequate policy attention in the face of escalating obesity across countries of all income groups and world regions.

SARS CoV2 infection _The longevity study perspectives

“…Among these, a major or minor expression of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 ( ACE2) ( Bourgonje et al, 2020 ; La Vignera et al, 2020 ; Peron and Nakaya, 2020 ) the strength of inflammatory response ( Amiral et al, 2020 ; Bonafè et al, 2020 ; de Lucena et al, 2020 ), and the presence of comorbidities in infected patients (i.e. essential hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity) ( Aggarwal et al, 2020 ; Asfahan et al, 2020 ; Jackson-Morris et al, 2020 ; Huizinga et al, 2020 ; Zaim et al, 2020 ) have suggested as COVID-19 predominant drivers. Such COVID-19 infection features lead to speculate the crucial role of individual genetic background in this infection, rather than in others.…”

Daily food planning for families under Covid-19: combining analytic hierarchy processes and linear optimisation

“…While dietary intake and the associated nutrition have widespread implications on physical and mental health of individuals, optimal nutrition in itself is a valuable resource that transcends the individual (Jackson-Morris et al, 2020 ; Ma & Lee, 2012 ). This calls for wider promotion of a healthy diet as part of the efforts to strengthen immunity during the pandemic.…”

“…This is important, since the ability to plan and implement a healthy diet given the new conditions is crucial to ensure families’ good physical and emotional health. Indeed, it has been documented that the lockdown and social isolation simultaneously increase the risk of obesity and weaken the resistance to the on-going pandemic (Jackson-Morris et al, 2020 ). As the proposed model can be adapted to other contexts and scenarios, our contribution is to provide families with the practical and easy to implement tool to support their health in this challenging period of social isolation, working from home and school closure (Coller & Webber, 2020 ).…”

The Inflammatory Profile of Obesity and the Role on Pulmonary Bacterial and Viral Infections

“…These factors include pre-existing lung disease, neoplasms, age, but also overweight and obesity [ 213 , 214 , 215 ]. Clinical observations identified obesity as an independent risk factor for hospitalization, ICU treatment, and death [ 9 , 10 ]. Large cohort studies describe significantly elevated risks of intubation and death for obese COVID-19 patients [ 216 , 217 , 218 ].…”

“…On the one hand, the “obesity paradox” describes a benefit for the obese, e.g., in sepsis [ 8 ]. On the other hand, certain infections take a markedly more severe course in obese patients compared to normal-weight patients, as the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic clearly illustrates [ 9 , 10 ]. Thus, the “obesity paradox” proposes that obese patients, although presenting numerous comorbidities, show a survival benefit [ 11 ].…”