There is a stark link between obesity and COVID-19 deaths, according to new research. The report, by the World Obesity Federation, shows excess weight is second only to age as factors in the death toll.
Almost 90 percent of deaths from COVID-19 are from countries with high rates of obesity. That is nearly 2.2 million out of about 2.5 million dead.
It shows mortality rates are 10 times higher where at least 50 percent of the population is overweight.
That includes the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
On the other end of the scale, it shows no single country where less than 40 percent of the population was overweight has a high death rate.
Johanna Ralston, the chief executive of the World Obesity Federation, talks to Al Jazeera.

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