In 2021, one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, two studies, rich in data, showed that the greatest risks for severe COVID-19 outcomes were preexisting health conditions. These conditions are strongly linked to obesity.
These studies, and many others like them, weren’t widely reported in the press, and despite the trillions of dollars spent on COVID-19, little in the way of public health messaging or investment was spent on addressing the obesity connection. This preexisting pandemic, and the diseases that come with it, were already a leading contributor to early death before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S.-based studies, done independently, make clear that preexisting health conditions are most significant in driving severe outcomes from a COVID-19 infection….