A new report from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that having a very low or very high body mass index (BMI) is a significant risk factor for a more severe COVID-19 infection.The WHO stated further that a BMI greater than or equal to 25 is overweight while a BMI greater than or equal to 30 is obesity.
The CDC report noted that while previous studies have suggested a link between obesity and COVID-19 complications, new evidence has revealed that being underweight may be very risky as well.
As reported by Business Insider on Wednesday, CDC researchers studied data on 148,494 American adults who were hospitalised with COVID-19 from March to December 2020.
The researchers found that coronavirus patients at either extreme of the body mass index (which measures height-to-weight ratio) were more likely to be hospitalised, require intensive care such as ventilation, or die of the disease than peers in the middle range of BMI.
While BMI is an imperfect measure of health, these findings suggest the relationship between COVID-19 risk and weight isn’t straightforward.
The CDC report found that people with obesity were significantly more likely to be hospitalised, need intensive care, or die from coronavirus than other BMI ranges.
The report stated that the more severe the obesity, the greater the odds of COVID-19 complications. Those with severe obesity ranging from a BMI of 40 to more than 45 were among the highest-risk patients.
The CDC report found an overweight BMI was a risk factor for requiring hospitalisation and intensive care.
In total, 78% of patients hospitalised for COVID-19 had a BMI in the overweight (or obesity) range, according to the report.
The CDC report also stated that a low BMI was riskier than a high BMI, noting that underweight patients in the study had higher rates of hospitalisation and intensive care than people with obesity.
According to the report, underweight people were almost twice as likely to die of COVID-19 as people with severe obesity.
source: Punch
