Obesity and COVID-19: The Two Sides of the Coin - Dicker, D.; Bettini, S.; Farpour-Lambert, N.; Fruhbeck, G.; Golan, R.; Goossens, G.; Halford, J.; O'Malley, G.; Mullerova, D.; Ramos Salas, X.; Hassapiou, M. N.; Sagen, J.; et al. (Obes Facts, 2020)
The World Health Organization declared COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic on March 12, 2020. COVID-19 is causing massive health problems and economic suffering around the world. The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) promptly recognised the impact that the outbreak could have on people with obesity. On one side, emerging data suggest that obesity represents a risk factor for a more serious and complicated course of COVID-19 in adults. On the other side, the health emergency caused by the outbreak diverts attention from the prevention and care of non-communicable chronic diseases to communicable diseases. This might be particularly true for obesity, a chronic and relapsing disease frequently neglected and linked to significant bias and stigmatization. The Obesity Management Task Force (OMTF) of EASO contributes in this paper to highlighting the key aspects of these two sides of the coin and suggests some specific actions.
Keywords: journalArticle; *Betacoronavirus; Adult; Aged; Barrier to treatment; Coronavirus Infections/*epidemiology/transmission; Covid-19; Disease Susceptibility; Humans; Middle Aged; Obesity; Obesity/complications/*epidemiology; Pandemic; Pandemics/*statistics & numerical data; Patient Admission/statistics & numerical data; Pneumonia, Viral/*epidemiology/transmission; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2; Severity of Illness Index; Vaccination; Viral Load; World Health Organization; of the Executive Committee of EASO and receive no funding for that role; statement, which was authored under the auspices of EASO. All authors are members