By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A new international study has revealed that obesity increases the risk of COVID-19 deaths by nearly 50 percent.

The study, a collaboration between the University of North Carolina, Saudi Health Council and World Bank, was led by Dr Barry Popkin – a nutrition professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Published in the Obesity Reviews journal, the study focuses on COVID-19’s impact on the obese community.

For example, study findings show that the risk of overweight people dying from the virus is 48 percent, a percentage higher than what officials initially thought.

It also suggests that a COVID vaccine may not be as effective for this vulnerable community.

Even Dr Popkin has admitted to being shocked by the study’s findings.

“That’s a pretty big effect for me,” he said. “It is a 50 percent increase essentially. That’s a pretty high scary number. All of it is actually, much higher than I ever expected.”

According to the research, the risk of obese people being hospitalised with COVID-19 increases by 113 percent and of needing intensive care by 74 percent.

“ICU admission and mortality are really high. They all shocked me, to be honest,” Dr Popkin added.

He also said: “We know a COVID vaccine will have a positive effect on obese people, but we suspect from all our knowledge from tests on the SARS vaccine and the flu vaccine it will have a diminished benefit compared to the others.”

Dr Melinda Beck, the study’s co-author, added: “Individuals with obesity are also more likely to experience physical ailments that make fighting this disease harder, such as sleep apnoea, which increases pulmonary hypertension, or a body mass index that increases difficulties in a hospital setting with intubation.”

The report captures data from many studies worldwide, including China, France, Italy, the UK and the US.

Last year, then-Health Minister Dr Duane Sands revealed that more than 70 percent of the Bahamian population is overweight.

The statistics were presented as the results of the 2019 STEPS Survey, which also found The Bahamas is overwhelmingly an “unhealthy nation”.

According to the 2019 results, less than 50 percent of Bahamians drink the recommended eight or more glasses of water each day and additionally, only 15 percent of the population eats the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables.

In 2018, Dr Sands said The Bahamas was the sixth most obese country in the world.

Attempts made to contact health officials concerning the latest study’s findings were unsuccessful up to press time.