COVID-19 Impact on Global Immune Health Supplements Market

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly hit the nutritional progress of most of the countries across the world. The persistence of the Covid-19 for a longer period has adversely affected the most vulnerable groups of population including adults aged more than 60 years, mothers, and children. Globally, countries are expecting drastic decline in dietary quality in low- and middle-income countries as a result of loss of income, shutdown of businesses, human and goods movement restrictions imposed by governments, de-globalization, and breakdown of food markets due to both demand shocks and supply constraints. Healthcare facilities have been operating out of their limits towards combating Covid-19 and diverting resources from a nutritional care including micronutrient supplementation, prevention and treatment of child malnutrition. In normal times, malnutrition remains a multidimensional problem and during the pandemic situation it has taken a major hit. Thus, global population will be more focused on building higher immunity level during and post-crisis situation.

Covid-19 may lead to drastic reduction in global dietary quality
The Covid-19 crisis has majorly affected the primary diets which demanded fruits, vegetables, and animal-based foods, as main sources of essential micronutrients in the diets. Micronutrients – vitamins and minerals are vital to maintaining health, disease prevention, and well-being. They are not produced in body and are derived from the diet. The six essential micronutrients are Iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Iodine, Folate, and Zinc. The WHO estimates that more than 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiency globally. Most of the countries in Europe and Middle East demonstrate widespread inadequacy in the intakes and/or status of vitamin D, vitamin A (retinol), folate and selenium in specific age groups.
The number of undernourished people in the world has been on the rise since 2015, and is back to levels seen in 2010–2011
NOTES: * Values for 2018 are projections as illustrated by empty circles.
Source: FAO

Obesity is major Covid-19 risk across the globe, especially in the U.S.
The U.S. demonstrates high rates of obesity which makes it significant risk factor for Covid-19 hospitalization. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults was 42.4% in 2017–2018. The prevalence was 40.0% among younger adults aged 20–39, 44.8% among middle-aged adults aged 40–59, and 42.8% among older adults aged 60 and over. There were no significant differences in prevalence by age group (Figure 1).
Among men, the prevalence of obesity was 40.3% among those aged 20–39, 46.4% among those aged 40–59, and 42.2% among those aged 60 and over. Among women, the prevalence of obesity was 39.7% among those aged 20–39, 43.3% among those aged 40–59, and 43.3% among those aged 60 and over. None of the differences by age were significant.
In the U.S, approximately 42% of adults have a BMI over 30, the threshold for obesity, and more than 9 percent are classified as severely obese with a BMI over 40, according to the CDC. People with obesity can have other high-risk health conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes.

Prevalence of obesity among adults, by sex and age in the U.S. (2018)
Source: CDC
New York University’s Langone School of Medicine performed a retrospective analysis of BMI stratified by age in Covid-19-positive symptomatic patients who presented to a large academic hospital system in New York City. Patients who were PCR-positive for Covid-19 during March 4, 2020- April 4, 2020 were extracted from our electronic health record system and analyzed. Though patients aged 30,the BMI range of individuals in this study appears representative of the nation, as 36% of the patients have a BMI >30. There is geographic variation in reported mortality, as South Korea, China and Italy report case fatality rates of 0.8, 2.3 and 7.2, respectivelyand regional risk factors such as prevalence of smoking, pollution or aging population has been cited. Unfortunately, obesity in people