For Vaccine Eligibility, Should BMI Be Used?
As the COVID 19 vaccine rolls by the dozen out in most parts of the world, a lot of aspects surrounding the vaccines and the vaccination drives have been making the news time and again. In recent news, the priority given to people with a higher BMI has drawn the spotlight.
Health experts and researches, after studying several factor, have found and declared the obese people, which means people with a high BMI, are relatively more vulnerable to having a severe case of the covid-19 disease. In light of this, the administration of a fair number of countries have declared that those with a high BMI will be given priority in vaccination. The high risk of health complications due to factors such as age and existing physical conditions play a significant role in deciding the vaccine eligibility priority list.
Why Are People With A Higher BMI At More Risk?
According to several experts, excess fat shoots insulin level up which can consequently have a negative impact on a person’s immune system as well as their metabolism. Additionally obesity is often found to have negative impacts on lung function, due to which it becomes harder to breathe.
What is BMI?
Body Mass Index (BMI) measures whether a person has a healthy weight on the basis of the height and weight of the person. Typically, having a BMI within the range of 18 to 24 is considered healthy. Both, being under and over the limits can have negative impacts on a person’s health.
Why Is It Important To Maintain A Healthy BMI?
A high BMI is an indicator of obesity. Obesity brings a host of health issues, often severe, including diabetes and arthritis. As mentioned before, it also has a negative impact in a person’s metabolism and respiratory functions, which increases the severity of viral infections, if contracted.
Regular and appropriate exercise, a healthy and balanced diet and an active lifestyle are more than enough to keep one’s BMI in check. Consul with a certified health practitioner or a fitness expert for a BMI calculator, and to chalk out a plan to get to the ideal range, if required. If you would prefer to go the DIY way, there are several online BMI calculators available.
Conclusion
In these unprecedented times, what has become crystal clear that health insurance can be a huge helping hand in the time of health problems and crises? Having a reliable health insurance means that one does not need to stress about the financial burden that comes with health issues, Covid-19 or otherwise. It is advisable to have reliable health insurance at all times to fall back on, to protect your loved ones, come what may.
