Normal weight obesity and COVID-19 severity: A poorly recognized link

People with obesity (those with high body mass index (BMI)) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at increased risk of requiring intensive care admission and mechanical ventilation, and death [1]. Although BMI is a commonly used measure of obesity in clinical settings, it cannot delineate fat-free mass from adipose tissue [2]. Thus, people with normal weight on the BMI scale can have elevated body fat percent, particularly in the visceral area, an entity called normal weight obesity (NWO) [2, 3].

Source: Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice - October 20, 2020 Category: Endocrinology Authors: Thirunavukkarasu Sathish, Nitin Kapoor Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research