Obesity and COVID-19 mortality are correlated.

ABSTRACT: In view of a conspicuous absence of any cross-country study linking obesity and COVID-19 mortality, we conduct an empirical analysis of plausible associations between COVID-19 mortality and the proportion of obese in the adult population distributed across 142 countries around the globe. We observe a statistically significant positive association between COVID-19 mortality and the proportion of obese in adult populations spanning 142 countries. This association holds across countries belonging to different income groups and is not sensitive to a population's median age, proportion of the elderly, and/or proportion of females. The estimated elasticity of COVID-19 mortality, with respect to the proportion of obese in adult populations, is the highest for the sub-sample of countries that belo

SUBMITTER: Arulanandam B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10088638 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature