Body mass index and risk of COVID-19 across ethnic groups: analysis of UK Biobank study

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has devastated global economies and put unprecedented strain on clinical services. Emerging evidence has suggested that black and minority ethnic (BME) groups, particularly South Asian (SA) and black African or Caribbean (BAC) populations, are at an increased risk of COVID-19 and resulting complications1. Obesity is also associated with a higher risk of testing positive for, and dying from,COVID-191,2. However, the interaction between ethnicity and obesity on the risk of COVID-19 has not been tested. As ethnicity is known to modify the association between BMI and cardiometabolic health3,4, we hypothesise that BMI also acts to modify the relative risk of COVID-19 across ethnic groups. [Opening paragraph]