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COVID-19, Obesity, and Undernutrition: A Major Challenge for Latin American Countries

Ada Cuevas1, Simon Barquera2

  • 1Center for Advanced Metabolic Medicine and Nutrition (CAMMYN), Santiago, Chile.

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|July 9, 2020
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic poses risks, with obesity and malnutrition potentially increasing disease severity and hospitalization. Further research is needed to confirm these impacts on immune response.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, was declared by the WHO in March 2020.
  • Risk factors for severe COVID-19 include older age, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular/lung diseases, and immune suppression.
  • Obesity is a known risk factor for severe COVID-19, and malnutrition increases hospitalization risk for influenza-like illnesses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the potential impact of undernutrition on COVID-19 severity.
  • To hypothesize the relationship between malnutrition, immune response, and COVID-19 outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on risk factors for infectious diseases.
  • Analysis of known inflammatory responses associated with malnutrition.
  • Extrapolation of findings to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Main Results:

  • While specific data on undernutrition and COVID-19 are limited, existing evidence suggests a potential for increased severity.
  • Malnutrition is associated with inflammatory responses that may impair immune function.
  • Similar to obesity, undernutrition may lead to suboptimal immune responses in COVID-19 patients.

Conclusions:

  • Undernutrition is hypothesized to be a risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes.
  • Further research is warranted to elucidate the precise impact of nutritional status on COVID-19 evolution and severity.

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