The food environment: A social risk factor in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic it is necessary to analyze the social conditions that favor the development of chronic non-communicable diseases (ENT) such as obesity and diabetes, that are  risk factors for a serious course of COVID-19. This article presents first a description of the intersection between obesity, diabetes and COVID-19, and then explains the emergence of cncds as resulting from the availability of ultra-processed foods in food environments. Such development is the result of a historical process of sociocultural transformation called food modernity, in which the ways of producing and consuming food are modified have an impact on the increase in these diseases. Finally, we analyze the relevance of public policies to prevent and reduce in the long term some of the main comorbidity factors against the COVID-19 disease