Regional comparative analysis of COVID-19 case fatality rates associated with obesity, hypertension, and diabetes in Mexico 2020 – 2021

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze regionally the COVID-19 case fatality rates associated with specific chronic diseases: obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes in Mexico, for the period 2020-2021. In this sense, it is conceptually discussed how obesity, which is usually the origin of high blood pressure and diabetes, has become a public problem attributable to changes in dietary patterns, reduced physical activity, sociocultural aspects, the three major transitions (demographic, epidemiological, and nutritional) and the double nutritional burden. The data were obtained from the databases that the Mexican Ministry of Health updates daily on COVID-19 infections and mortality. For the analysis, a regionalization is proposed according to the social and cultural issues of the federative entities and a descriptive-analytical statistics exercise was performed for the proposed regions. Among the most outstanding results is the fact that in deaths due to COVID-19, high blood pressure is the most common associated condition in Mexico, specifically in the central and northern regions.