Obesity, adipokines and COVID-19

The SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic has led to worldwide research aiming to identify the risk factors for developing critical illness and mortality caused by COVID‐19. It quickly became apparent that besides older age, obesity is one of the most important risk factors for a more severe course of COVID‐19, although the mechanisms remain largely unknown [1‐3]. Notably, with respect to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and acute lung injury (ALI), evidence is mounting that obesity is a risk factor for ARDS/ALI, but among people with ARDS/ALI, obesity is associated with better outcome, a phenomenon which has been called the “obesity paradox” [4,5].