Weight Isn’t The Problem With COVID-19. How We Talk About It Is.

Messages about the perceived association between weight and COVID-19 risk are everywhere. On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, there’s a page dedicated to “Obesity, Race/Ethnicity, and COVID-19,” in which the agency blatantly states that “obesity worsens outcomes from COVID-19.” The page goes on to say that while obesity is complex and is associated with systemic factors like poverty, education, housing and racial…