Underlying health conditions can play a big role in the seriousness of a COVID-19 infection. To understand many of the health conditions Americans face, we first need to take a look at metabolic health and excess weight.
"This current obesity trend has really exposed the metabolic vulnerability of our country," explained Dr. Sean Bourke, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of JumpstartMD on KCBS Radio’s "Ask An Expert" early Wednesday.
Dr. Bourke told KCBS Radio anchor Dan Mitchinson that this metabolic vulnerability actually makes people in America more at risk from “serious Coronavirus infections" than people in other countries.
Obesity is prevalent in nearly half of the U.S. population, and 3 out of 4 Americans are obese or overweight. In addition to that, 97% of Americans have some sort of metabolic ill-health. All of these issues are risk factors for COVID-19.
Although Dr. Bourke noted that some people may see a reduction in their risk of a serious COVID-19 infection if they lost weight, he said that exercise isn't always the answer.
"I am not a firm believer that exercise is a very effective weight loss tool. I think exercise is an incredibly effective wellness tool," he explains.
As for other popular weight loss methods, while there are some studies showing that fasting can improve metabolic health or promote weight loss Dr. Bourke said that over time most of these studies actually showed only "relatively modest or incremental weight loss."
On average, explained Dr. Bourke, these strategies only yield up to 3% weight loss. However, we need more than that to show significant reductions in risks of diseases like Type II diabetes.
