New Delhi, February 10 People with obesity are 70 per cent more likely to be hospitalised or die from infectious diseases, including flu, COVID-19, and pneumonia, according to a study published in The Lancet journal.
In 2023, obesity was linked to one in ten global deaths related to infections, researchers said, even as they cautioned that estimates of obesity's global impact should be interpreted with care.
Researchers from the UK and Finland said that people with obesity were seen to have a higher risk of being hospitalised or dying due to SARS-CoV-2 infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, they said there was a lack of evidence to suggest that this link exists for infectious diseases in general.
The team analysed data from the UK Biobank and Finnish cohorts, which included over 540,000 people. The body mass indices (BMI) of the participants were recorded at the time of enrolment, and they were followed up for an average of 13-14 years.
"The study of over 540,000 people suggests that people with obesity are 70 per cent more likely to be hospitalised or die from an infectious disease; people with the most severe obesity face three times the risk," the researchers said.
Extrapolating the findings globally, the team said that obesity may have been a contributing factor in 0.6 million out of 5.4 million deaths (10.8 per cent) from infectious diseases in 2023.
"Our findings suggest that people living with obesity are significantly more likely to become severely ill or to die from a wide range of infectious diseases. As obesity rates are expected to rise globally, so will the number of deaths and hospitalisations from infectious diseases linked to obesity," said Solja Nyberg, author from the University of Helsinki in Finland.
There is an urgent need for policies that help people stay healthy and support weight loss, such as access to affordable healthy food and opportunities for physical activity, Nyberg said.