Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Sep;21(9):e13083.
doi: 10.1111/obr.13083. Epub 2020 Jun 24.

Should patients with obesity be more afraid of COVID-19?

Anna Maria Rychter  1 , Agnieszka Zawada  1 , Alicja Ewa Ratajczak  1 , Agnieszka Dobrowolska  1 , Iwona Krela-Kaźmierczak
Affiliations
Review

Should patients with obesity be more afraid of COVID-19?

Anna Maria Rychter et al. Obes Rev. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

COVID-19 crisis has lasted since the late 2019 to the present day. The severity of the disease is positively correlated with several factors, such as age and coexisting diseases. Furthermore, obesity is increasingly considered as a yet another risk factor, particularly, because it has been observed that people suffering from excessive body weight may experience a more severe course of COVID-19 infection. On the basis of current research, in our nonsystematic review, we have investigated the extent to which obesity can affect the SARS-CoV-2 course and identify the potential mechanisms of the disease. We have also described the role of proper nutrition, physical activity and other aspects relevant to the management of obesity.

Keywords: COVID-19; co-morbidities; obesity; risk factors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Gorbalenya AE, Baker SC, Baric RS, et al. Severe acute respiratory syndrome‐related coronavirus: The Species and Its Viruses – a Statement of the Coronavirus Study Group . Microbiology. 2020;536–544. 10.1101/2020.02.07.937862 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lai C‐C, Shih T‐P, Ko W‐C, Tang H‐J, Hsueh P‐R. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) and coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19): the epidemic and the challenges. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020;55(3):612–632. 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105924 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . Coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). Situation report—118.
    1. Smith KB, Smith MS. Obesity statistics. Prim Care. 2016;43(1):121‐135, ix. 10.1016/j.pop.2015.10.001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blüher M. Obesity: global epidemiology and pathogenesis. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2019;15(5):288‐298. 10.1038/s41574-019-0176-8 - DOI - PubMed