COVID-19 Mortality in Europe, by Latitude and Obesity Status: A Geo-Spatial Analysis in 40 Countries
2022
Stefanos Tyrovolas | Thomas Tsiampalis | Marianthi Morena | Angela Y. M. Leung | Antigoni Faka | Christos Chalkias | Sotirios Tsiodras | Dimosthenes Panagiotakos
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a public health emergency of international concern and later characterized it as a pandemic. New data show that excess body mass and vitamin D deficiency might be related to the disease severity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether latitude, as a proxy of sunlight exposure and Vitamin D synthesis, and prevalent obesity among European populations, is related to COVID-19 spread and severity. European COVID-19 data (incidence and fatality), including information on the prevalence of obesity, social distancing, and others were obtained by the &ldquo:Our World in Data&rdquo: website on 17 April 2021. Adjusted analysis showed that higher COVID-19 incidence and fatality were pictured in countries being in higher latitude, both during the whole period, as well as, during the time period 1 November 2020&ndash:31 March 2021. Higher incidence and fatality of COVID-19 were observed where the prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher during the whole time period, whereas during the time period 1 November 2020&ndash:31 March 2021, only COVID-19 incidence was higher but not a fatality. The present results provide insights for targeted interventions and preventive strategies against COVID-19.
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