How Obesity Linked to Long Covid

February 25, 2026

People with excess weight are more likely to experience long-term neurological and mental health symptoms after Covid-19, including headache, vertigo, smell and taste disorders, sleep disturbance, and depression.

This research is done by Edith Cowan University (ECU) Centre of Precision Health visiting PhD scholar Debora Barbosa Ronca.

“We anticipated some level of association between excess weight and post-Covid-19 symptoms based on prior evidence linking obesity with worse Covid-19 long-term outcomes. What stood out was the consistency of findings across a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms — including memory problems, depression, sleep disturbances, and sensory impairments. While we did not perform subgroup analyses by ethnicity, the inclusion of studies from 23 different countries suggests the global relevance of our findings,” said Ronca.

Excess weight has been associated with the development of long Covid or Post-Covid-19 condition, as proposed by the World Health Organization. While the mechanics behind the negative association between excess weight and long Covid is yet to be confirmed, Ronca noted that it could be linked to an exaggerated inflammatory response predisposed by excess fatty tissue in the body. Moreover, fat tissue helps the SARS-CoV-2 virus enter the body and may store the virus, allowing it to spread.