High BMI linked to COVID-19 severity in African Americans
While all people have a risk of contracting the infection and developing the disease, this risk is not equally distributed.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source note, “Long-standing systemic health and social inequities have put many people from racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19.”
Various studies and reviews have demonstrated this disproportionate impact. The articles consistently point to an association between ethnicity and race and COVID-19 severity, highlighting that the disease and our approach to it must be understood in socioeconomic, as well as biological, terms.
As a commentary in the journal BMJ Global Health notes, “Racism, segregation, and inequality, which have been for decades invisibly and pervasively embedded in dominant cultures and social institutions, now emerge as a monumental COVID-19 challenge.”
Even as structural racism requires a wholescale reckoning, understanding the factors beyond systemic inequity that contribute to a high rate of severe COVID-19 among African Americans can help doctors respond effectively.
Dr. Christine Bojanowski, an assistant professor at Tulane University’s School of Medicine, in New Orleans, LA, and the corresponding author of the present study, notes, “It is of tremendous importance that we identify risk factors and those individuals who may be at increased risk for severe COVID-19 infection, so that we are able [to] dedicate efforts toward supporting those most affected and in need.”
“This study is of particular interest in response to emerging reports revealing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the African American community in our country. Further inclusive research aimed at optimizing clinical care relevant to the African American population is critical to ensure an equitable response to COVID-19.”
Recent Articles
