Nutrition Videos

Hi! I'm Stelios Pantazis. I'm a doctor and I specialize in medical nutrition and metabolic disorders. Today, we're talking about the effect of obesity on the risk of suffering from COVID-19 and, in case someone suffers from it, on the progress of the disease. In the end, I'll tell you how you can help yourselves, if you are overweight. An analysis of 75 studies has been recently published, and the conclusion was that obesity increases the risk of suffering from COVID-19 and, in case someone suffers from it, it increases the risk of death. Let's see what the scientists of the study concluded in more detail. Obesity is defined as usual, namely a BMI over 30. The BMI is a person's weight in kg divided by the square of height in meters. This is a table for you to find your BMI or the BMI of a person you care about, in order to find out if you're at higher risk of suffering from COVID-19. The numbers on the left correspond to a person's height. The numbers on the top correspond to a person's weight. You just have to match the weight with the height and you'll find the BMI. If it's 30 or more, this person is obese and at higher risk. In the table, the box with the BMI of obese people is orange or red. If the box is yellow or green, the risk is not higher. It is important that you use your real weight and height in the calculation, because they often significantly affect the result. You should weigh and, ideally, measure the height of the person the BMI of whom you'd like to find. Only then is the result reliable, because the weight and often the height change over time. The study has shown that for people with a BMI over 30, compared to people with a BMI under 30, the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 is double. Moreover, in case of hospitalization, the risk of admission to the ICU is 75% higher. Finally, the risk of death is 50% higher than the risk of people with a BMI under 30. What's the reason for this? It seems that obesity makes the immune system more likely to dysfunction and this makes it harder for it to fight a COVID-19 infection. Moreover, obesity leads to chronic inflammation, which also prevents the immune system from working properly. Don't forget that increased fat in the torso decreases the available space in the chest for the lungs, therefore it is hard for an obese person to take deep breaths, which plays a definitive role in a lung infection. It should also be pointed out that overweight people often suffer from hypertension or diabetes mellitus too, which are significant risk factors for severe infection with COVID-19. These are the reasons why an obese person has worse prognosis in case of infection with COVID-19. What can someone do? An obese person should pay attention to two groups of approach. First, the immediate approach, namely they should significantly limit their exposure to spaces where many people gather, they should be extra careful with prevention, using masks properly, using antiseptic and washing their hands often. They should also avoid close contact with other people, keeping a two-meter distance. All the measures should be applied to the maximum degree. The other group of approach should focus on the weight loss. The obese person should immediately start a diet, in order to safely lose weight and significantly reduce the risk of disease. The diet should be supervised by an expert, who can guide someone with medical problems and focus on overall health and not only on weight loss. If you thought this was interesting, please give us a thumbs up. Share it with people who you think might find it interesting, and subscribe to our channel in order to get notified when we upload a video. You can also suggest subjects in the comment section. Thank you very much!