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. 2020;13(4):430-438.
doi: 10.1159/000510005. Epub 2020 Jul 13.

Obesity and COVID-19: The Two Sides of the Coin

Dror Dicker  1   2 , Silvia Bettini  3   4 , Nathalie Farpour-Lambert  3   5 , Gema Frühbeck  3   6 , Rachel Golan  3   7 , Gijs Goossens  3   8 , Jason Halford  3   9 , Grace O'Malley  3   10 , Dana Mullerova  3   11 , Ximena Ramos Salas  3 , Maria N Hassapiou  12 , Jørn Sagen  3   13 , Euan Woodward  3 , Volkan Yumuk  3   14 , Luca Busetto  3   4
Affiliations

Obesity and COVID-19: The Two Sides of the Coin

Dror Dicker et al. Obes Facts. 2020.

Abstract

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic on March 12, 2020. COVID-19 is causing massive health problems and economic suffering around the world. The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) promptly recognised the impact that the outbreak could have on people with obesity. On one side, emerging data suggest that obesity represents a risk factor for a more serious and complicated course of COVID-19 in adults. On the other side, the health emergency caused by the outbreak diverts attention from the prevention and care of non-communicable chronic diseases to communicable diseases. This might be particularly true for obesity, a chronic and relapsing disease frequently neglected and linked to significant bias and stigmatization. The Obesity Management Task Force (OMTF) of EASO contributes in this paper to highlighting the key aspects of these two sides of the coin and suggests some specific actions.

Keywords: Barrier to treatment; COVID-19; Obesity; Pandemic; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare no conflict of interest in the development of this position statement, which was authored under the auspices of EASO. All authors are members of the Executive Committee of EASO and receive no funding for that role.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Biological and social factors linking obesity with COVID-19 illness severity. ACE, angiotensin-converting enzyme; ICUs, intensive care units; PwO, people with obesity.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Responses received for the more significant questions in the survey conducted across the EASO Collaborating Centres for Obesity Management (COMs) network in order to understand how COVID-19 epidemic affected obesity care in Europe.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

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