COVID-19: is obesity really more of a risk factor for men than women?

By Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, Senior Research Fellow, Departmental Lecturer and Director of Evidence-Based Healthcare DPhil Programme, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford

A new US study has added to the evidence that obesity is a risk factor for severe COVID-19. And in this paper, a particular finding has caught the media’s attention: the apparently greater risk posed by COVID-19 to men with obesity than women. But while it’s tempting to take this information at face value, there are several reasons not to.

There are lots of different ways to look at whether…

Read complete article

~	How visas for social care workers may be exacerbating exploitation in the sector

~	Why the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service should be designated as a provincial police service

~	Detaining migrants in prisons violates human rights and risks abuses

~	Granting legal ‘personhood’ to nature is a growing movement – can it stem biodiversity loss?

~	Friday essay: Project 2025, the policy substance behind Trump’s showmanship, reveals a radical plan to reshape the world

~	Longer-lasting ozone holes over Antarctica expose seal pups and penguin chicks to much more UV

~	New rock art discoveries in Eastern Sudan tell a tale of ancient cattle, the ‘green Sahara’ and climate catastrophe

~	Will checking character references really help you find the best candidate for a job?

~	China’s money only goes so far – Kokoda shows why history binds PNG and Australia in a far deeper way

~	We spoke to young people about sexual consent. They understand the concept, but don’t always ask in the moment