https://www.zdnet.com/article/nyu-scientists-largest-u-s-study-of-covid-19-finds-obesity-the-single-biggest-factor-in-new-york-critical-cases/

As we’re learning more about COVID-19 and why it affects people in different ways, some factors are emerging that reinforce the need to take our holistic health much more seriously.

First, in the above article, in addition to age, the research has found obesity of patients was the single largest factor in whether those with the virus needed hospital admission. In fact, obesity was even a higher odds ratio than any cardiovascular or pulmonary disease.

Second, my wife and I have a close personal friend in the medical community, working on the front lines, and in a recent conversation, she mentioned the single biggest correlation her facility was seeing between COVID-19 patients and the rate of symptom severity was BMI, or Body Mass Index, above 30. According to the CDC, “Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. A high BMI can be an indicator of high body fatness.” Quite simply, the higher the BMI, the higher likelihood of increased obesity.

A third, unrelated article, https://news.trust.org/item/20200408103237-l2epf from France highlights some very consistent themes. In this article, French Chief Epidemiologist, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy said both French and American people who are obese are at higher risk with COVID-19.

Finally, RNA virus researcher Gregory Poland summed-up the conditions aggravating the COVID-19 situation globally: “We have an increasingly older age demographic across virtually all countries, as well as unprecedented rates of obesity, smoking, diabetes, and heart and lung disease, and an ever-growing population of people who are immunocompromised—all comorbidities that lead to significantly higher risks of severe disease and death from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

What Can We Do?

Take this opportunity to make meaningful changes to our diet. I am attaching several links to articles I’ve posted regarding simple behavior changes and dietary paths that can substantially reduce obesity, the risk of diabetes, heart disease and other serious health conditions.

https://business-fit.org/2020/03/31/carb-loaded/

https://business-fit.org/2020/03/24/2020s-best-diets/

https://business-fit.org/2020/03/09/ketone-brain-power/

https://business-fit.org/2020/03/04/healthy-diet-mood/