Obesity DOUBLES risk of needing hospital treatment for coronavirus, huge study shows

BEING obese doubles the risk of needing hospital treatment for coronavirus, a new study reveals.

Scientists from Glasgow University reviewed data from more than 400,000 people and found as body mass index increased, so did the risk of having a severe case of Covid-19.

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Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday said “the age profile and factors like obesity” are potential reasons for why Britain has Europe’s highest death toll.

Around a third of adults in Britain are obese with a BMI above 30 and the latest figures show the UK has one of the highest death rates per head of population in Europe, behind only Ireland and Andorra.

A government review is now under way to determine how gender, ethnicity and obesity can affect the impact of the virus, .

OBESITY DANGER

It comes after research shows Britain’s black, Asian and ethnic minority groups (BAME) are more likely to die from coronavirus compared to the rest of the population.

Paul Welsh, of Glasgow University, told The Times: “Certainly we think from what we’ve seen BMI is part of the picture.

“Previous studies have really focused on, once patients are in hospital, who ends up needing ventilation and who ends up dying.

“And we’ve seen in numerous different studies that obese patients tend to progress in a worse way. People with obesity are more likely to end up in hospital with Covid.”

People with obesity are more likely to end up in hospital with Covid.

Paul Welsh

Their research also showed people who had high blood pressure or walked slower than others were at greater risk.

Data collected from 17,000 coronavirus patients also found death rates were 37 per cent higher among obese people.

Obesity can cause heart disease and diabetes which are known to increase people’s vulnerability to the deadly bug.

Another theory is obese people have lower levels of oxygen, which is one of main criteria linked to hospital admissions.

Meanwhile, scientists have suggested that fat cells could be to blame as they  produce large amounts of a protein which Covid-19 uses to infiltrate human cells.

The experts from Germany and the US said that fat might "serve as a viral reservoir".

KILLER BUG

It comes after deputy chief scientific adviser Dame Angela McLean said studies showed that being obese was an "additional risk factor" for coronavirus patients in hospital in whether they needed intensive care or, ultimately, died.

She urged people who are significantly overweight to overhaul their lifestyles to help protect themselves from coronavirus, as well as other illness.

She said: "We have very fine evidence, actually, from rather beautiful studies, gathered from in patients in our hospitals with Covid-19 and those studies show that once you’re in hospital being obese is an additional risk factor for being admitted to an ICU or indeed for death.

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"My understanding about the way to lose weight is that going on a diet isn't the way to do it.

"What you have to do is actually decide to completely change your lifestyle, you have to decide to do something that is going to be enduring, not just going on a diet.

"I understand that's a really difficult thing to do, but under all circumstances - pandemic or no pandemic - it's better not to be obese."

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