Abstract
Purpose of Review: Globally, minority ethnic groups have been at higher risk of COVID-19 mortality and morbidity than majority populations. This review outlines factors that may interact to create these inequalities and explores the hypothesis that differing levels of cardio-metabolic risk, according to ethnic group, play a role. Recent Findings: Two UK Biobank studies have reported that the body mass index is more strongly associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality in minority ethnic populations than in White populations. A study of UK patients found that the strongest association between obesity and adverse COVID-19 outcomes was in people of Black ethnicity. Summary: Differences in the prevalence of obesity and its metabolic sequelae have been shown to partly mediate ethnic inequalities in COVID-19 outcomes, although not always consistently. It is possible that ethnic differences in the consequences of obesity may explain some of the remaining disparity in COVID-19 risk.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 107-115 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Current Obesity Reports |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sep 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Ethnic inequalities
- Metabolic risk
- Obesity
- Social determinants of health