In the early days of the pandemic, doctors noticed something about the people that were getting really sick from COVID-19, the majority of them were obese, but there wasn’t a concrete link.  

Dr. Frank Mongillo, a medical doctor at Yale New Haven Hospital said it’s probably also related to their illnesses that are related to diabetes, and the increased stress from COVID 19 infection. 

A peer reviewed study breaks the crisis down by sex, race and socioeconomics, and shows that Latinos, especially here in the Rio Grande Valley are at the highest risk of the pandemic’s lethal reach.

Researchers said obesity may be one reason the Valley has been hit so hard by the virus, but it’s not the only reason. 

"Obesity is tied to the social conditions in the community, it’s tied to poverty, it’s tied to food insecurity, so if you have higher levels of poverty in  the community, you’re going to have higher levels of obesity unfortunately," Mongillo said.

Watch the video for the full story.