As the coronavirus began to migrate from Wuhan, China, across the world, the common refrain went that young people, and children especially, were mostly being spared from the worst complications of the pandemic. Around the globe, that has proven to be mostly true — except not in America.
Stanford University researchers found that whereas those under 65 comprised 5% to 9% of all coronavirus deaths in eight major European epicenters, those younger than 65 have accounted for a staggering 30% of all coronavirus deaths in major U.S. hotbeds. For those in New York City, the absolute risk for people under 65 of dying from the coronavirus has been nearly three times greater than those in Italy, seven times greater than those in Belgium, and 46 times greater than those in Germany.
Unlike other figures attempting to extrapolate conclusions from the coronavirus, absolute risk is a flawless measure, because both the denominator (total under-65 population) and the numerator (under-65 coronavirus deaths) are agreed-upon facts. One could argue that spring breakers and St. Patrick’s Day party-goers took too much solace in early data pointing to their invincibility against the coronavirus, leading to disproportionate American deaths. One could also argue that our elderly population, stricken by the virus later than these other countries, was better prepared and took greater care. But the probable main factor is a lot simpler: We’re an extremely overweight and unhealthy nation.
Age is the most obvious risk factor for coronavirus fatalities, but we also know that preexisting conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, also contribute. Being overweight or obese are risk factors for all of those conditions and more, and new data seem to indicate that obesity is itself a risk factor. In France, more than 4 in 5 coronavirus patients in intensive care are overweight, and in Shenzhen, China, researchers found that obesity “significantly increases the risk of developing severe pneumonia” for coronavirus patients.
It’s not just cherry-picking data. Jean-Francois Delfraissy, France’s chief epidemiologist, has already declared that being overweight on its own is indeed a risk factor for complications from the coronavirus.
So it should come as no surprise that younger populations in the United States are being hit so hard. More than 1 in 3 Americans is obese compared to roughly 1 in 5 Italians, Belgians, and Germans.
It’s no big mystery. We’re just fat, and right now it’s a big problem.
