People aged 40 living with Type 2 diabetes face a "disproportionately increased risk of dying from COVID-19" – equivalent to the risk faced by a non-diabetic 20 years older.

The finding comes from a study led by researchers at the University of Exeter, which also shows that the risk of death from COVID-19 among those with Type 2 increases the younger you are, compared with people of a similar age without the condition.

Published in the journal Diabetologia, the study is based on an analysis of three large-scale datasets and triangulates the evidence on heterogeneity of diabetes effect by age on COVID-19 mortality from large population-based and critical care-based studies.

"The additional COVID-19 mortality risk associated with diabetes is, in terms of COVID-age, markedly higher in younger than older people," the study reads.

"This reflects the higher relative risk of COVID-19-related mortality associated with diabetes in younger age groups.

"For a person aged 40 years with diabetes, additional mortality risk is equivalent to around 20 years of chronological age, meaning that mortality risk is similar to that of a 60-year-old person without diabetes.

"For a person aged 70 years with diabetes, the additional mortality risk from diabetes is equivalent to an additional 8 years of age, so their COVID-age is 78 years."

Obesity is believed to account for up to 80 per cent of the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, while recent research suggests that obese people are up to 80 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those with a BMI of less than 22.

The UK has one of the highest levels of obesity in Europe, with more than 1 in 4 (28.1 per cent) adults obese and nearly two out of three (63.4 per cent) overweight.

• To access the report, click here for Diabetologia.

HCM has previously published a study whichfound a correlation between obesity and the likelihood of governments closing gyms, with nations with lower levels of obesity more likely to keep gyms open.