Obesity linked to higher risk of severe infections: Study
A major new study found that people with obesity (BMI 30+) are 70% more likely to end up in the hospital or die from severe infections than those with a healthy weight.
Researchers tracked over half a million adults in Finland and the UK for more than a decade to reach these results.
Risk of hospitalization, death from infection
Those with the most severe obesity had three times the risk compared to healthy-weight folks.
This held true for common infections like flu, COVID-19, pneumonia, stomach bugs, and UTIs.
The link wasn't seen with HIV or tuberculosis.
Obesity and infection-related deaths
Obesity may already be a factor in about 600,000 infection-related deaths worldwide each year (around one in 10).
The numbers were even higher in places like the UK (16%) and US (25%).
As Professor Mika Kivimaki put it: the findings "suggest that obesity weakens the body's defenses against infections, resulting in more serious diseases."
Why obesity increases risk of severe infections
According to Professor Naveed Sattar, obesity affects your body in ways that make fighting off infections harder—things like changes to gut bacteria, less lung capacity, poorer blood flow to skin, and stretched tissues all play a part.