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Vitamin D deficiency is also caused by obesity, for example and is a symptom of bad metabolic health in general.

Well the other three conditions they listed (diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure) are also frequently caused by obesity.

Maybe it’s all just obesity?

Except most obese people don't have issues with COVID. This is the thing that is most confounding about COVID. Most comorbidities only increase the risk factor by a little. The biggest and most reliable risk factor is age. We know there is almost no risk below the age of 5, and 15% chance of death over 75.

Severe obesity increases the risk by more than a little.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7010e4.htm

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-3742

Yes, it's a little. A 20% increase over a small number is still a small number. I'm not talking relative risk, I'm talking overall risk. Most overweight people still have mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. The single factor that had the highest predictive factor for complications was age.

No. Although obesity is a risk factor for the other three, it is not necessary for any.

Heart failure is a loss of function, the other three aren't per se.

> caused by obesity

IANADr but I think type 2 diabetes is caused by too much sugar in the diet, and so is obesity.

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