COVID-19 et obésité : la position du Groupe de Réflexion sur l’Obésité et le Surpoids (G.R.O.S.)

Beyond age, which remain the main risk factor, there is a wide range of comorbidity associated with severe forms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Obesity is the only one that generated such a strong, almost discriminatory reaction in society or in the medical field. Is this hammering a relevant and efficient way of addressing the issue of the aggravating relationship between COVID-19 and obesity? Pointing out the topic of obesity has an immediate impact on patients’ mental health, adding up to increased difficulties they already experience, mental distress being directly associated to the perception of the discrimination they face. The massive and obsessing reiteration (so much that it ends up inducing culpability) of the vulnerability of obese patients is likely to generate or increase mental disorders that will, in turn, aggravate binge eating and reinforce the medical distancing already observed in this population. Behaviors initiated by the unprecedented situation of the lock down and the alarmist discussions about food and health are so contradictory that their impact of cognitive restraint may induce or worsen eating disorders in patients.