Abstract: International Journal of Obesity (2021) 45:1155–1159 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00771-z BRIEF COMMUNICATION Epidemiology and Population Health Obesity, walking pace and risk of severe COVID-19 and mortality: analysis of UK Biobank Thomas Yates 1,2 Cameron Razieh1,2 Francesco Zaccardi1,3 Alex V. Rowlands Melanie J. Davies1,2,4 Kamlesh Khunti 1,3,4,5 ● ● ● 1 ● Samuel Seidu1 ● ● 1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: Received: 17 June 2020 / Revised: 11 December 2020 / Accepted: 21 January 2021 / Published online: 26 February 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2021 Abstract Obesity is an emerging risk factor for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Simple measures of physical fitness, such as self-reported walking pace, may also be important risk markers. This analysis includes 412,596 UK Biobank participants with linked COVID-19 data (median age at linkage = 68 years, obese = 24%, median number of comorbidities = 1). As of August 24th 2020, there were 1001 cases of severe (in-hospital) disease and 336 COVID-19 deaths. Compared to normal weight individuals, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) of severe COVID-19 in overweight and obese individuals was 1.26 (1.07, 1.48) and 1.49 (1.25, 1.79), respectively. For COVID-19 mortality, the ORs were 1.19 (0.88, 161) and 1.82 (1.33, 2.49), respectively. Compared to those with a brisk walking pace, the OR of severe COVID-19 for steady/average and slow walkers was 1.13 (0.98, 1.31) and 1.88 (1.53, 2.31), respectively. For COVID-19 mortality, the ORs were 1.44 (1.10, 1.90) and 1.83 (1.26, 2.65), respectively. Slow walkers had the highest risk regardless of obesity status. For example, compared to normal weight brisk walkers, the OR of severe disease and COVID-19 mortality in normal weight slow walkers was 2.42 (1.53, 3.84) and 3.75 (1.61, 8.70), respectively. Self-reported slow walkers appear to be a high-risk group for severe COVID19 outcomes independent of obesity.