Obesity 'responsible for one in six deaths from infection in UK'

Obesity is driving one in six deaths from infection in the UK, new research suggests.

Experts warned that people with obesity are 70% more likely to be admitted to hospital or die from an infectious disease, while those with the most severe obesity have three times the risk.

The trend could get worse in the coming decades if obesity levels continue to rise, they said.

Obesity is known to significantly increase the risk of being admitted to hospital or dying from infectious diseases, such as flu, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections and Covid.

The new study, published in the Lancet medical journal, was based on global research from more than 540,000 people, including over 470,000 adults from the UK Biobank dataset.

Using risk estimates, researchers found that obesity was linked to one in 10 infection-related deaths across the world in 2023.

The chances of dying differed between countries, but around one in six deaths in the UK and one in four deaths in the US were due to the link.

Overall, obesity may have been a driving factor in 0.6 million out of 5.4 million deaths (10.8%) from infectious diseases in 2023, the study said.

In the UK, it accounted for 7,300 out of 42,000 deaths in that year (17.4%).

Professor Mika Kivimaki, from University College London, who led the study, said: "Our findings suggest that obesity weakens the body's defences against infections, resulting in more serious diseases.

"People may not get infected more easily, but recovery from infection is clearly harder."

The researchers found evidence that losing weight can reduce the risk of severe infections. Obese people who lost weight had a roughly 20% lower risk of severe infections than those who stayed the same.

Author Solja Nyberg, from the University of Helsinki in Finland, said: "To reduce the risk of severe infections, as well as other health issues linked with obesity, there is an urgent need for policies that help people stay healthy and support weight-loss, such as access to affordable healthy food and opportunities for physical activity.

"Furthermore, if someone has obesity, it is especially important to keep their recommended vaccinations up to date."

The study found that people with obesity, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over, had a 70% higher risk of hospital admission or death from any infectious disease compared to people with a healthy BMI between 18.5 to 24.9.

UK Biobank adults with a healthy BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 had a 1.1% risk of having a severe infection in a year, rising to 1.8% for those who were obese.