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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #65: Obesity's impact on Covid-19 death rates

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A nation's obesity rate has the biggest impact on its Covid-19 death rate. That was the conclusion of a recent study by professors at University College London. They examined 30 developed countries (representing 15 percent of the global population), with a focus on the inter-country variations in Covid-19 death rates through July 26, 2020. The professors identified the obesity rate as having the biggest influence on the national Covid-19 death rate, followed by the hypertension rate, population density, life expectancy, the share of the population over 65, the share of the population under 15, the diabetes rate, national delays in implementing control measures, per-capita GDP, and mean national temperature (higher temperatures had lower death rates). These 10 factors combined explained 63 percent of the variation in national death rates.