Obesity, ethnicity and COVID-19 mortality

When we talk about ethnicity in this summary we are referring to shared cultural characteristics (i.e. language, ancestry, practices and beliefs) and also a race context (belonging to a group of people who share the same national and racial origins).

Ethnicity is recognised as a risk factor of COVID-19 seriousness and death, with the risk of dying from COVID-19 two to four times higher for people who belong to Black and South Asian ethnic groups. We now know that this relationship is particularly important for people who are overweight and those living with obesity.

This summary document shows the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the risk of death due to COVID-19 across different ethnic groups.