A comprehensive report from the World Obesity Federation has found that the highest COVID-19 death rates are seen in countries with the highest overweight populations. The report contains mortality data from Johns Hopkins University and the WHO Global Health Observatory data on obesity.
Taking data from over 160 countries, the report found "linear correlations between a country's COVID-19 mortality and the proportion of adults that are overweight."
COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas by @worldobesity https://t.co/aGlrvbopil pic.twitter.com/NGHWQQZHQU
— Simone Bösch (@SimoneBoesch) April 7, 2021
By the end of February 2021, 2.5 million COVID-19 deaths had been reported across the globe. Of the 2.5 million people deceased, 2.2 million were in countries where over half the population is classified as overweight (a body mass index above 25).
High death rates (over 10 per 100,000) did not occur in countries that had less than 40% overweight populations.