I’ve been on the “obesity as a Covid comorbidity” beat for a while now, but the evidence keeps piling up, so I’ll keep sharing it.
The latest comes from Arthur Weltman and Siddhartha Angadi, kinesiology professors in the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development. Here is an excerpt from a recent Q&A with the two:
Q. How does regular physical activity and exercise – if at all – impact the severity of COVID-19 symptoms?
AW: We want to state unequivocally that regular exercise is not a substitute for scientifically accepted preventive measures – vaccination, masking, social distancing.
That said, these were the results of the most comprehensive report to date by Robert Sallis and his colleagues, who identified 48,440 adult patients with a COVID-19 diagnosis from Jan. 1, 2020 to Oct. 21, 2020, who had at least three exercise vital sign measurements between March 19, 2018 and March 18, 2020.
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Patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive during the two years preceding the pandemic were more likely to be hospitalized, admitted to the intensive care unit and die than patients who were consistently meeting physical activity guidelines.
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Other than advanced age and a history of organ transplant, physical inactivity was the strongest risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes.
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Meeting U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines was associated with substantial benefit, but even those doing some physical activity had lower risks for severe COVID-19 outcomes, including death, than those who were consistently inactive.
There you go: Regular physical activity is a great way to reduce the severity of Covid; conversely, lack of physical activity is one of the strongest risk factors. Another good reason to exercise — if you needed one.