5 ms·

Leaving aside all of the possible confounders for the difference in severity of Covid-19 infection in men and women, it's not the case that women on average hav

Leaving aside all of the possible confounders for the difference in severity of Covid-19 infection in men and women, it's not the case that women on average have more body fat than men. So for a "healthy" man and a "healthy" woman, the woman would tend to have more fatty tissue, but more men are overweight. UK figures show that 40% of men are overweight, compared to 31% of women. In the US, 74% of men are overweight, compared to 67% of women.

davidjgraph 5y ago
Those US figures are overweight or obese. The UK figures are likely overweight only. Over 60% of UK adults are overweight or obese [0] [0] https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/risk/overweight-and-obesity#heading-One https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-...
chiefalchemist 5y ago
Do you have a link for those % stats? I'm not questioning the accuracy. Only that I want to share it with others (in a told ya so sorta way).
- deanjones 5y ago
  I misread the UK figures, the above are for overweight-but-not-obese. The overweight-and-obese split of men/women is 67%/61% (NHS, 2019): https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet-england-2019/part-3-adult-obesity https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/sta... US figures are here: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statisti...
phonypc 5y ago
The categories of overweight and obese are based on BMI, which is not relative proportion of body fat. On average, of a man and woman who both have a BMI of 30, the woman will have a higher proportion of body fat.
- ben_w 5y ago
  I think both these claims can be true at the same time, can’t they? To make a toy example just to make the reasoning clear: if men’s BMI was distributed as 50% = 20, 50% = 35, and women’s BMI was distributed as 95% = 20, 5% = 35, the average body fat of all men would be higher than the average body fat of all women, even though the average body fat of women BMI=X would be higher than of men BMI=X for all X.
clairity 5y ago
also, women tend to be smaller, so even with higher percentages, the total amount of fat can be roughly similar to men. but it seems the real issue with fat is how much visceral fat there is vs. the total amount anyway. obese folks all tend to have much more visceral fat than relatively fit individuals. visceral fat interferes more with the workings of organs and the signaling mechanisms (hormones, neural pathways, lymph/blood compositions, etc.) that keep a body healthy.
- nradov 5y ago
  Yes visceral fat appears to be the real risk factor. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-880193/v1 https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-880193/v1
scns 5y ago
My information was: 12% body fat is normal for a man and 24% is normal for a woman. Those deposits are needed since women bear children.

davidjgraph 5y ago

Those US figures are overweight or obese. The UK figures are likely overweight only. Over 60% of UK adults are overweight or obese [0] [0] https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/risk/overweight-and-obesity#heading-One https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-...

chiefalchemist 5y ago

Do you have a link for those % stats? I'm not questioning the accuracy. Only that I want to share it with others (in a told ya so sorta way).

deanjones 5y ago
I misread the UK figures, the above are for overweight-but-not-obese. The overweight-and-obese split of men/women is 67%/61% (NHS, 2019): https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet-england-2019/part-3-adult-obesity https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/sta... US figures are here: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statisti...

phonypc 5y ago

The categories of overweight and obese are based on BMI, which is not relative proportion of body fat. On average, of a man and woman who both have a BMI of 30, the woman will have a higher proportion of body fat.

ben_w 5y ago
I think both these claims can be true at the same time, can’t they? To make a toy example just to make the reasoning clear: if men’s BMI was distributed as 50% = 20, 50% = 35, and women’s BMI was distributed as 95% = 20, 5% = 35, the average body fat of all men would be higher than the average body fat of all women, even though the average body fat of women BMI=X would be higher than of men BMI=X for all X.

clairity 5y ago

also, women tend to be smaller, so even with higher percentages, the total amount of fat can be roughly similar to men. but it seems the real issue with fat is how much visceral fat there is vs. the total amount anyway. obese folks all tend to have much more visceral fat than relatively fit individuals. visceral fat interferes more with the workings of organs and the signaling mechanisms (hormones, neural pathways, lymph/blood compositions, etc.) that keep a body healthy.

nradov 5y ago
Yes visceral fat appears to be the real risk factor. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-880193/v1 https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-880193/v1

scns 5y ago

My information was: 12% body fat is normal for a man and 24% is normal for a woman. Those deposits are needed since women bear children.