Our study found that HEI scores in elderly COVID-19 patients were associated with increased body weight, BMI, and waist circumference, as well as more severe symptoms and longer hospitalizations. This "paradoxical relationship" refers to the unexpected association where better diet quality, despite its known benefits for overall health, was linked to worse COVID-19 outcomes, suggesting that diet quality alone may not mitigate the adverse effects of factors such as obesity and metabolic health in this population.
Khosronia et al. (Wed,) studied this question.