The impact of mean body mass index on reported mortality from COVID-19 across 181 countries

Figures

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  Figure 1. Correlation plots analysing COVID-19 mortality as a function of BMI, cigarette consumption, annual precipitations and average temperature in 181 countries worldwide COVID-19 data covers about 2 years, from initial counting until 25 March 2022. Purportedly under-reporting countries are shown in blue in the first three panels and edgeless in the last one. (A) Scattered plot of reported COVID-19 deaths vs. tests per capita (worldometers.info, retrieved on 25 March 2022). Under-reporting of deaths seems more likely below about 50 tests per thousand people per year. (B) Scattered plot of reported deaths per thousand due to COVID-19 (worldometers.info) vs. mean BMI (31). (C) Scattered plot of reported deaths per thousand due to COVID-19 vs. cigarette smoking (tobaccoatlas.org, 2016). (D) Average annual precipitation (35) and temperature (1961–1990 data, Climatic Research Unit, 2011). Warmer and humid areas experienced reduced mortality. Data source: Mitchell, T.D., Carter, T.R., Jones, P.D., Hulme, M., New, M., 2003: A Comprehensive Set of High-Resolution Grids of Monthly Climate for Europe and the Globe: the Observed Record (1901–2000) and 16 Scenarios (2001–2100). J. Climate:…

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  Figure 2. Pre-vaccination annual reported COVID-19 mortality in 183 countries (Our World in Data, year 2020) vs. mean BMI. Black dots correspond to countries who performed more than 50 tests per thousand people per year. Dark blue dots indicate countries who did not reach such a rate. Countries for which testing data was not available within this dataset are shown in light blue. The lower mortality rates among countries with a normal mean BMI can not be explained by undertesting alone (a few extensively-testing countries can be seen in this range).

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  Figure 3. Countries with a normal mean BMI (circled) reported a lower COVID-19 mortality. Purportedly under-reporting countries are shown with edgeless dots.