The CDC has released startling data showing the vast majority of people who have been hospitalized, placed on a ventilator, or died from COVID were obese or overweight.
The new study shows that nearly 150,000 people at 238 U.S. hospitals tested positive for COVID-19 from March to December last year. Of those patients, 28.3 percent were overweight and 50.8 percent were obese.
New: The risk of severe #COVID19 illness rises sharply with elevated body mass index, especially for people younger than 65, a new @CDCMMWR finds. Learn more: https://t.co/4Tem67E5Z3. pic.twitter.com/gY8KPqZFY1
— CDC (@CDCgov) March 8, 2021
Overweight is identified as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more and those who are considered obese have a BMI of 30 or more.
Our latest report shows that death rates are ten times higher in countries where more than 50% of the population are overweight.
Find our new report 'COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas', released for #WorldObesityDay ⭕.
➡️ https://t.co/sRaCjG5hA9 pic.twitter.com/AXwVAqGNK0
— World Obesity (@WorldObesity) March 7, 2021
The CDC discovered that the risk for hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and death was at its lowest level for patients with a BMI under 25. And the possibility of developing a serious illness “sharply increased,” for those with a higher BMI, especially for people 65 and older.
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“As clinicians develop care plans for COVID-19 patients, they should consider the risk for severe outcomes in patients with higher BMIs, especially for those with severe obesity,” the agency wrote.
And the CDC reports that 73.6 percent of adults aged 20 and older are considered overweight while 42.5 percent within that same age bracket are obese.
The CDC added that “These results highlight the need to promote and support a healthy BMI, which might be especially important for populations disproportionately affected by obesity, particularly Hispanic or Latino and non-Hispanic black adults and persons from low-income households, which are populations who have a higher prevalence of obesity and are more likely to have worse outcomes from COVID-19 compared with other populations.”
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“As clinicians develop care plans for COVID-19 patients, they should consider the risk for severe outcomes in patients with higher BMI’s, especially for those with severe obesity,” the agency added.
Meanwhile, the World Obesity Federation (WOF) reports that of the 2.5 million COVID-related deaths that were reported at the end of last month, 2.2 million were in countries where over half the population is deemed overweight.
–CBN News Service
