High risk of serious Covid-19 outcomes for 27 million severely obese

People with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher) are now considered at risk of developing serious outcomes from Covid-19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

GlobalData epidemiologists have analyzed the proportion of men and women over the age of 18 years across the nine major markets who are severely obese and estimate 27 million individuals over the age of 18 years across the 9MM to be obese in 2020, which corresponds to 1.5% of the total population.

High severe obesity rates could be contributing to high death rates in certain countries, so it is vital these countries protect this vulnerable risk group, as a way of reducing the number of deaths from Covid-19.

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