Table 2 Results of random-effects meta-analysis of the association between overweight/obesity and SARS-CoV-2 infection^a.

	SARS-CoV-2 positive by self-report			SARS-CoV-2 positive by serology
Exposures	OR (95% CI)^b,c	n^d	I² (%)^e	OR (95% CI)^b,c	n	I² (%)^e
Most recent BMI status^f
Healthy weight	1 (ref)			1 (ref)
Overweight	1.08 (1.04–1.13)	9	0	1.02 (0.79–1.31)	3	54
Obesity	1.43 (1.18–1.75)	9	56	1.22 (1.01–1.47)	3	0
Long-term obesity^g
No obesity	1 (ref)			1 (ref)
Only former obesity	1.08 (0.94–1.25)	8	1	1.33 (0.89–1.97)	3	0
Only recent obesity	1.51 (1.01–2.26)	9	57	1.61 (1.18–2.19)	3	0
Long-term obesity	1.48 (1.15–1.91)	9	65	1.18 (0.95–1.46)	3	0
Most recent WC status^h
Healthy waist	1 (ref)			1 (ref)
Abdominal overweight	1.09 (1.04–1.14)	8	0	1.01 (0.79–1.28)	3	31
Abdominal obesity	1.24 (0.999–1.55)	8	57	1.15 (0.92–1.44)	3	33
Long-term abdominal obesity^g
No abdominal obesity	1 (ref)			1 (ref)
Only former abdominal obesity	1.04 (0.96–1.12)	5	0	0.86 (0.58–1.28)	3	33
Only recent abdominal obesity	1.17 (0.90–1.52)	6	22	1.49 (1.13–1.97)	3	0
Long-term abdominal obesity	1.31 (1.01–1.70)	6	50	1.16 (0.96–1.39)	3	0

BMI body mass index, CI confidence interval, n number of studies, OR odds ratio, ref reference, WC waist circumference.
^aFigs. 1 and 2 and Supplementary Figs. S2–S7 show the accompanying forest plots of these results.
^b Bold indicates statistical significance according to 95% CI.
^c Odds ratios are adjusted for age, sex, educational level, and number of SARS-CoV-2 infection measurements (and ethnicity for one cohort).
^d Some results are based on less than nine studies, because waist circumference was not measured (twice) and/or because no cases were available in a particular exposure category.
^e Heterogeneity can be considered low when I² = 0%–40%, moderate when I² = 30%–60%, substantial when I² = 50%–90%, and high when I² = 75%–100%.
^f Healthy weight: BMI < 25 kg/m²; overweight: BMI ≥ 25 and <30 kg/m²; obesity: BMI ≥ 30 kg/m².
^g No obesity: no obesity at both measurements; only former obesity: obesity at the least recent measurement, but not the most recent measurement; only recent obesity: obesity at the most recent measurement, but not the least recent measurement; long-term obesity: obesity at both measurements.
^h Healthy waist: WC < 94 cm among men and <80 cm among women; abdominal overweight: WC ≥ 94 cm and <102 cm among men and ≥80 cm and 88 cm among women; abdominal obesity: WC ≥ 102 cm among men and ≥88 cm among women.

Search