From the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report[1], March 12, 2021 (though I don't know if the CDC counts as a politically slanted source for you or not):
> Obesity increases the risk for severe COVID-19–associated illness.
> What is added by this report?
> Among 148,494 U.S. adults with COVID-19, a nonlinear relationship was found between body mass index (BMI) and COVID-19 severity, with lowest risks at BMIs near the threshold between healthy weight and overweight in most instances, then increasing with higher BMI. Overweight and obesity were risk factors for invasive mechanical ventilation. Obesity was a risk factor for hospitalization and death, particularly among adults aged <65 years.
That's just from the summary, there are many more details based on publicly available data and I'd suggest you read the full report. It's not the only one out there on this subject, not by a long chalk.
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In the U.S. Almost 3 in 4 U.S. adults is overweight or obese. Nearly half of people have prediabetes or diabetes.
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So basically, it's easy to say that COVID would be prevented IF those people didn't have those conditions... but those people are there, they are actually majority of your adult population. So we have to deal with that.
From the foreword to the World Obesity report, COVID-19 and Obesity: The 2021 Atlas [1]:
> As we show in this report, increased bodyweight is the second greatest predictor of hospitalisation and a high risk of death for people suffering from COVID-19. Only old age rates as a higher risk factor.
> Reducing one major risk factor, overweight, would have resulted in far less stress on health services and reduced the need to protect those services from being overwhelmed.
> We show that in those countries where overweight affects only a minority of the adult population, the rates of death from COVID-19 are typically less than one tenth the levels found in countries where overweight affects the majority of adults.
> We also show that the drivers of overweight – especially high levels of consumption of processed foods – are associated with mortality from COVID-19.
The report itself goes into much greater detail, is very readable and interesting, and I highly recommend it.
