Two studies from researchers at NYU Langone Health reveal that obesity is a risk factor for hospital admission and critical care among younger patients with COVID-19.
The data, published in Clinical Infectious Diseasesand posted to the medRxiv.org website, show that patients younger than 60 with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 to 34 were twice as likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19, and those with BMI of 35 or greater were twice as likely to be admitted to acute care and three times more likely to be admitted to the ICU compared with nonobese patients.