Obesity (BMI>25) in 50%+ population == much higher Covid fatalities

[jim mcnamara]

TL;DR Summary

Countries with high obesity rate, defined as BMI >25 in more than 50% of the population, have much higher fatality rates than countries with low BMI

https://www.worldobesity.org/news/statement-coronavirus-covid-19-obesity

This is more of a medical practitioner's site than a research facility. This shows far greater impact on medical facilities and fatalities, apparently 90% of fatalities occur in chubby countries.

News version:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/health/obesity-covid-death-rate-intl/index.html

My take on it is that obesity is highly correlated with comorbidities: Coronary diseases, type II diabetes, and some other conditions. This, in combination with greater number of severe patients, puts medical facilities at the brink of being able to provide services, and even to deny services.

This is not new necessarily, but it is like putting 1 and 1 together and coming up with 2.

 

[TeethWhitener]

Weird, I thought obesity was defined as BMI>30, and overweight was 25<BMI<30

 

[jim mcnamara]

It's somewhat arbitrary - American Heart Association lists:
<19 underweight
20-24 Normal
25-29 Overweight
30-39 Obese
>39 Morbidly obese

There are criticisms
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265215

BMI (body mass index), which is based on the height and weight of a person, is an inaccurate measure of body fat content and does not take into account muscle mass, bone density, overall body composition, and racial and sex differences, say researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

More clinical - the obesity paradox*, "obese" patients survive severe disease when they "should not" when you go by BMI:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27411524/

* IMO anytime you see words like "paradox" it can mean our understanding is wrong. But frequently the people who define parameters are loathe to change anything.

Vitamin Paradox was a perfect example, which finally seems to be passe. The idea was "why do we urinate out most of the water soluble vitamins (B & C) we got from a pill?"

Answer: lipoprotein transport across membranes evolved for micronutrients, megadoses of micronutrients get urinated out because the naked molecules wind up running around unchaperoned in our bloodstream, when they hit the kidneys. The kidneys say 'aagh' and just flush them down the urinary drain.

(a tad over anthropomorphized )

Here is one that is still "active"
https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(00)40907-8/fulltext

 

[StoneTemplePython]

Another criticism of BMI that is rarely talked about but really should be obvious to mathematicians and physicists: volume (and weight) vary with height in a super-quadratic manner yet BMI proceeds to divide weight by height squared.

I'd much prefer it if people kept track of something easy but geometrically sensible -- waist:height and waist:hip both come to mind.

I also like Nick Trefethen's commentary on the matter of BMI
http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/trefethen/bmi.html

 

[bhobba]

Being chubby not only puts you at risk in its own right, but increases the risk of other comorbidities that also increase risk such as high blood pressure and heart problems. You even have to take extra vitamin D to maintain normal levels - which is now known as a significant risk factor. It really ramps up your risk. I have said it before, and will say it again, the best preventative to getting/surviving Covid (other than the obvious ones of social distancing, limiting outings etc) is to get a physical that includes checking vitamin D levels which is not commonly done. Many such as vitamin D deficiency, ensuring your blood sugar levels are in the normal range are correctable and will significantly reduce risk. Losing weight will help as well of course, but will not happen overnight.

Thanks
Bill