Is Obesity a Disease?

[Loki]

Obesity is a disease in the US. Should it be? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/23011804)

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68354000/jpg/_68354793_168871844.jpg

Last week, the American Medical Association voted to classify obesity as a disease. But is being fat the same thing as being sick?

The decision came at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA).

Though a committee of experts recommended against classifying obesity as a disease, the association's delegates voted to approve the change.

And at a stroke, a third of the US population became diseased.

The immediate repercussions of the vote are not clear - while insurance companies may now be more inclined to cover obesity prevention and treatments, they are under no obligation to do so.

AMA president Ardis Hoven says the new designation will increase the focus on obesity treatment and prevention, and in doing so help medical professionals deal with the increasingly complex health problems associated with being overweight or obese.

Though obesity has been a health issue in the public eye for decades, doctors are not always equipped or prepared to help patients treat and prevent obesity-related illnesses.

Hoven says the vote will encourage doctors to change that, and will provide more training and education for both doctors and patients.

"When we are sitting in the examining room and talking about things to prevent weight gain and promote weight loss, what this is going to enable us to do is put together tools and teaching and education around better ways to impact patient responsiveness around our concerns about their obesity," she says.

For Americans who went to bed feeling fine and woke up with a disease, the new designation is alarming.

"Pretty uniformly people are not real happy about it," says Lesely Kinzel, associate editor at the website XOJane.com and author of Two Whole Cakes: How to Stop Dieting and Learn to Love Your Body.

Soon after the announcement of the decision, the hashtag #IAmNotADisease became popular on Twitter for those wishing to express their dismay with the decision.

Kinzel says that many fat people already have trouble accessing proper healthcare, because their ailments are not taken seriously except as an extension of their weight.

"You might go to the doctor with a twisted ankle or a head cold and be told you need to lose weight, which doesn't help with the twisted ankle or the head cold," she says.

She worries this classification will only make the problem worse.

[Queen B]

No. Just close their fucking mouth and stop eating junk food. Easy.

[lamb]

I don't think it is a disease, but obesity can be influenced by diseases and lead to others. Food choice plays a tremendous role, but I've seen people that eat a healthy diet and still trouble losing weight. Based on the poor diet I ate growing up, I should have been obese. Instead I was underweight and people thought I was anorexic. I knew an actual anorexic who was obese, and struggled trying to lose fat.

This video makes some points about the differences between fat and skinny people. At the 44:22 marker they make a good point about fat cells. Once fat cells grow and duplicate, you cannot lose them, making weight loss and maintenance more difficult. At some point the video mentions genetic predispositions to overeating. There is also a virus which has been found to cause greater proneness to obesity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenovirus_serotype_36


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeeFrcvt3KA

[Loki]

Exercise is also extremely important, it's not only about food. People who drive cars all day long and never walk have an increased risk of becoming obese.

[lamb]

In the past year, I've been very inactive. I barely exercise and I'm thinner than I've been in years. Not sure how that happened. Still, being thin does not mean the heart is healthy.

[Loki]

In the past year, I've been very inactive. I barely exercise and I'm thinner than I've been in years. Not sure how that happened. Still, being thin does not mean the heart is healthy.

Some people just have it in their genes - they don't become fat or obese. You're one of the lucky ones it seems :)

[lamb]

My parents and grandparents were thin, so I think weight gain can be at least partially genetic, but also epigenetic..though today I blame high calorie foods for the biggest cause.

[Roy]

Exercise is also extremely important, it's not only about food. People who drive cars all day long and never walk have an increased risk of becoming obese.

I remember reading that obesity is associated with an abnormal bacterial flora. That's why it is so hard for these people to lose weight even if they eat healthy and go on a diet. We talk about obesity not just about being overweight which could be just temporary.


My parents and grandparents were thin, so I think weight gain can be at least partially genetic, but also epigenetic..though today I blame high calorie foods for the biggest cause.

From all my family only three people are obese and they're rather distantly related so I guess that either I eat healthy or I got good genes (or both).

[Vesuvian Sky]

No. Its a lack of disclipline and cultural, particularly in the states where convenience (fast food) almost has a sacred ritualistic meaning. Also why bother to work out/exercise when one can watch hours of pointless TV or simply resort to fad diets or pill.:rolleyes:

[Roy]

No. Its a lack of disclipline and cultural, particularly in the states where convenience (fast food) almost has a sacred ritualistic meaning. Also why bother to work out/exercise when one can watch hours of pointless TV or simply resort to fad diet or pill.:rolleyes:

Mexican got obese after fast-food became popular there.

[liamliam]

Processed carbs (such as bread, rice, sweets, cakes etc) are what cause obesity, not meat/protein and fats. Carbs are the enemy! Humans weren't designed to eat them, but the government tells people they should be eating more carbs than anything else because it is cheaper for them to make than it is for them to farm meat. That's the simple truth. Carbs cause insulin resistance, diabetes, hormonal issues and obesity in people. Meat, vegetables, fats and a small amount of fruit does not.

[Vesuvian Sky]

Mexican got obese after fast-food became popular there.

Yeah but in Europe, fast food is mostly loathed. And the population is mostly thinner.

[Ultra]

It is a disease for a very, very small minority for them. Of course genetics and metabolism plays a role, BUT, it's still up to the individual to control his/her intake of calories. :rolleyes:


What's NOT IMPORTANT is the "RIGHT OF FOOD" or "DIET" or exercise, all you have to do is use more calories than you consume. That's the formula for losing weight, and of course, exercise makes it a lot more easier to lose weight since you'll use more calories for that than doing nothing or whatever. But no diet will work unless you follow the basic principle of using more energy than the one you gain from your intake of nourishment, and that's why a lot of fat people can't lose weight on any diet simply because they just eat too fucking much.


To stay at the same weight you just consume calories around the amount that you use every day, and to gain weight is of course the opposite to losing eat more calories than you burn up. Easy, very simple and basic principles that seem to be very hard for a lot of people to understand.

[Ultra]

Bump because I like this topic.

[Mason8]

It's definitely an illness, in so far as the fatties cannot control their urge to stuff their faces. It should be treated as a disease, but also as socially unacceptable as per smoking. This is because obesity is the largest killer of people worldwide (overtaken smoking) and will send us all broke under the burden of spiralling health and related costs. 

[Loki]

Meat and fat don't make you fat though. It's those carbs ...

[Grumpy Cat]

There are a few diseases that cause obesity, I'd say it's a symptom rather than a disease. Classifying it as a disease on its own might cause people not to consider underlying causes.... and then treating just the obesity is just as useless as putting a band-aid on a gangrenous wound.

[mr. logan]

Ugly AND fat chicks are a disease.

[Amun]

No. Just close their fucking mouth and stop eating junk food. Easy.

I think it is way more complex than that. Obesity to some people might be a direct result of depression, as they want to substitute something they are missing with easting foods their body don't need.