Obesity a disease?

meredith1123

nope. not a disease. possibly associated to a disorder, or emotional/psychological problem, but not a disease.

anorexia is not a disease, its seen as a mental illness.


would it be a disease if I tried to fornicate daily with a large mexican cacti? if I just had a compulsion to get it on with that Caryophyllale to the point where it had serious effects on my health even after my doctor warned me about this? is that a disease? no its just a compulsion.


obesity is caused 99% of the time by over eating. either you don't care about gaining weight, or it was how you were raised so you don't know what a healthy portion is or what healthy food is, or its compulsive eating or comfort eating.

I don't think its called a disease when you are within your healthy BMI, or is being in your healthy BMI a disease?


you know what. forget about it. were all diseased, obese or not, black, white, purple all the colors of the rainbow all sexes. were diseased.

now who's got the pills to fix it...... ooooooh here we go. now were getting somewhere.

maybe the "you have a disease" guys and the "we sell the pills for your disease" guys are somehow working together.....

gee. never heard of that.

Pharmaceuticals Invested Nearly $2 billion in Campaign Contributions and Lobbying

Individuals, lobbyists, and political action committees in the pharmaceutical industry contributed $167 million to federal candidates from 1990 to 2008
Members of the House and Senate received an average of $25,277 and $81,891, respectively, in pharmaceutical industry contributions in 2008
Pharmaceutical industry spending to lobby the federal government exceeded $1.5 billion from 1998 to 2008, more than any other industry
The ratio of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists to Members of Congress is approximately 2:1


THATS ALSO WHY PIZZA IS A VEGETABLE IN AMERICA.

cause they got the money to lobby you, or bury you.





so yeh.... we are all diseased, cause its mad profitable.

Pizzza...mmm''zzzz...vegetables. now i feel much better about those two large pizzas i ate yesterday.

btw - good comment/response :flowerforyou:

siqiniq

nope. not a disease. possibly associated to a disorder, or emotional/psychological problem, but not a disease.

anorexia is not a disease, its seen as a mental illness.


would it be a disease if I tried to fornicate daily with a large mexican cacti? if I just had a compulsion to get it on with that Caryophyllale to the point where it had serious effects on my health even after my doctor warned me about this? is that a disease? no its just a compulsion.


obesity is caused 99% of the time by over eating. either you don't care about gaining weight, or it was how you were raised so you don't know what a healthy portion is or what healthy food is, or its compulsive eating or comfort eating.

I don't think its called a disease when you are within your healthy BMI, or is being in your healthy BMI a disease?


you know what. forget about it. were all diseased, obese or not, black, white, purple all the colors of the rainbow all sexes. were diseased.

now who's got the pills to fix it...... ooooooh here we go. now were getting somewhere.

maybe the "you have a disease" guys and the "we sell the pills for your disease" guys are somehow working together.....

gee. never heard of that.

Pharmaceuticals Invested Nearly $2 billion in Campaign Contributions and Lobbying

Individuals, lobbyists, and political action committees in the pharmaceutical industry contributed $167 million to federal candidates from 1990 to 2008
Members of the House and Senate received an average of $25,277 and $81,891, respectively, in pharmaceutical industry contributions in 2008
Pharmaceutical industry spending to lobby the federal government exceeded $1.5 billion from 1998 to 2008, more than any other industry
The ratio of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists to Members of Congress is approximately 2:1


THATS ALSO WHY PIZZA IS A VEGETABLE IN AMERICA.

cause they got the money to lobby you, or bury you.





so yeh.... we are all diseased, cause its mad profitable.

If that's America, I'm glad I'm not American.

ndj1979

eating more than you take in and not working is a bad lifestyle choice and not a "disease"...

disease is something that you have no control over and then get sick, i.e. cancer...

You can control what you eat and if and when you exercise...

shannashannabobana

If fresh food was more affordable and available, and fast food was more expensive, perhaps it could made some difference in their choices.

I ALWAYS spend less when I cook from home, even when I buy steak then when I get fast food. It is cheaper, you just have to actually cook and shop sales.

Also, re the tax issues, lots of places already tax fast food more then grocery store. I think our grocery store food is taxed at 3% (except some stuff which isn’t, I’ve never figured out the rules on this) and fast food is taxed at 11 or 12 percent. It still makes no difference because it’s not about cost it’s about convenience.

shannashannabobana

I don't mind paying more for chips if it means that the apple is cheaper for someone who could only ever afford chips.

Have any of you priced chips and cokes lately? The apple is always cheaper. What's not cheaper is 50 apples.

sharpdagger

Also, the bottom line with the public is it might help some people to call it a disease.

Some people don't want to think of themselves as having a disease so they might take obesity more seriously. I know I'm one of those people. If obesity had been labeled a disease rather than just a "risk factor", I think i would have been more serious and fought to stay at worst in the "overweight" range BMI 25-29.9. I just don't want any diseases until it is necessary.

So it will help some. I know the argument will be it won't help all. That's fine. If it helps some, that's progress. We've all heard the 250 lb woman say she's happy being a big woman and is completely healthy. Now she wouldn't be able to say that.

I think with this attitude, people may learn their "obese" number and fight to stay under that. So even if they don't get to normal range (which ideally they should), we will have progress.

beckizzle

Obesity isn't something that you catch one day and weight 22 stone the next.

You make the choices to put the food in your mouth.

You make the choice not to exercise

You make the choice that puts you in a wheel chair because your knees/hips can't support your frame.

It's my taxes on my hard earned wages that fund disability benefit because you spent too much time eating the wrong foods.

I'm making the choice to change my life and my lifestyle so I don't become a burden on the state and give myself heart disease and cancer.

Generally is a disease is something where the sufferer has little or no control over. Obesity is self-induced.

I don't believe anyone can blame it on genetics. 90% of the people on my mother's side of the family are horrendously un-healthy, obese, riddle with cancer and heart disease... I'm not... I made the CHOICE not to be. Just like obese people chose to over-eat and under-exert themselves.

pluckabee

Does it help obese people more to sneer at them and tell them they've done this to themselves and all the blame falls on them? Or does it help obese more to acknowledge that they have a medical problem that they need to control?

The idea is to help reduce obesity rates and help people stop being obese.

I see a lot of people sitting on their high horse telling people they lack responsibility and knowingly make bad choices.

Marla64

Didn't mean to seem like I was a bomb thrower-- throw out a smoking hot subject and run away.

But I appreciate the discussion going on.

My thoughts align with those who mentioned the personal responsibility. I'm not a proponent of calling personal weaknesses "diseases," or "addictions," aka diseases. I think we're all responsible for what we do, drink, eat, say, yada yada.

These days, nothing is anybody's fault-- drink too much? You can't help it. You're an alcoholic-- it's a disease.

Can't keep it in your pants, Tiger? Not your fault You can't help it. You're a sex addict-- it's a disease.

It's BS. And now, you can't put down your fork? Not your fault. It's a disease.

Please.

The results are twofold, as I see it-- neither of which are good.

First-- as mentioned above, it is too easy to shirk responsibility and look to someone else for the answer when it's found inside. To quote Nancy Reagan-- Just say no. And if you don't want to, fine-- but don't blame anybody else. And don't tell me you can't. You can do anything you want to, if you want it badly enough.

Second-- as mentioned in my original post-- it further opens the door to government control. Already we have New York City telling businesses what type of oils they may and may not use, and what size drinks they can and cannot sell. (yes, that one has been overturned...but is on appeal.)

kellyjamespro2012

An addiction not a disease.


ad·dic·tion
[uh-dik-shuhn] Show IPA

noun
the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

Charlottesometimes23

If fresh food was more affordable and available, and fast food was more expensive, perhaps it could made some difference in their choices.

I ALWAYS spend less when I cook from home, even when I buy steak then when I get fast food. It is cheaper, you just have to actually cook and shop sales.

Also, re the tax issues, lots of places already tax fast food more then grocery store. I think our grocery store food is taxed at 3% (except some stuff which isn’t, I’ve never figured out the rules on this) and fast food is taxed at 11 or 12 percent. It still makes no difference because it’s not about cost it’s about convenience.

That may be your experience but there is a strong correlation between lower income and higher consumption of fast food.

Fresh food can also be convenient, but it's expensive. When I'm in a rush, I can go to the supermarket and buy a prepared salad with a little tub of dressing and a rotisserie chicken but I won't have much change from $20. The same amount of money will buy a lot more food at Most fast food places.

al369

For ****'s sake. Can I say **** on mfp?

It makes sense to call it a disease on various levels. ESPECIALLY so public policy and health care decisions can be made.

sharpdagger

Obesity isn't something that you catch one day and weight 22 stone the next.

...
It's my taxes on my hard earned wages that fund disability benefit because you spent too much time eating the wrong foods.

...
Generally is a disease is something where the sufferer has little or no control over. Obesity is self-induced.

I don't believe anyone can blame it on genetics. ...

-There are diseases that are slowly brought on over time.
-I'm with you on the taxes. i don't want new taxes. Unfortunately health premiums might go up a little to cover obesity if I'm being honest
-I don't think anyone is saying "genetically inevitable". Different people have different genetic predispositions. I agree with you that if they have those, they should be aware and CHOOSE to do something about it. It will be harder for some than others because of genetics but that's OK. That's no excuse. Nobody said things need to require equal effort.

JoelleAnn78

There won't be "national bans" on soft drinks or any other food. You do realize corporations run the world right, and they would hardly allow that.

I've only been on this site for a few weeks but it had looked like it was a haven from the insane hate politics that are everywhere else. Guess I was wrong ::grumble:

OMG No.

brc912

uh... there already is a tax on Gasoline...

toaster6

Meh. Something can be a disease AND self-inflicted. If I smoke and then get lung cancer, the lung cancer is a direct consequence of the smoking and it's still a disease. I personally don't think of being obese as a disease but I don't think it's ridiculous to consider it one.

joleenl

For all the "food tax" people. What if we made gym passes, exercise equipment, and fitness equipment tax deductable. Instead of making it harder to get bad food, why don't we make it easier to live healthier. Here in Canada, we have a fitness tax credit of $500 for minors, what if we extended that to all people? What if insurance companies and the governments health plans paid all of or part of gym passes, exercise equipment, and fitness equipment? Why don't insurance companies work on preventative care instead of treating the side-effects of obesity? Why don't we make healthier foods more available like in schools and vending machines? Why don't we make our kids take nutrition classes in school? Why don't we offer free courses in nutrition at public health centers? Why don't we tax the corporations that provide fast food or junk food more to offset some off the cost in preventative care? Why don't we force the fast food industry to have a certain percent of their menu of healthy choices (that are real healthy choices not just an illusion) and make them offer it at a compareable price to the other items? There is no reason that a salad and bottled water should be more then a burger, fries, and pop.

Why doesn't the stuff I listed above happen.... Because everyone gets rich off of illness.. self induced or not. The health care industry, the food industry, the wheel chair/buggy companies, all the companies that produce railings and other assistance items, the pharmacutical industry, the diet industry....etc.

I see the proposed change in favor of all the industries that stand to profit from the side effects of obesity. I think that this will give those industries even more money. The people that normally couldn't afford "treatment" will now have it covered by insurance which is a whole new group of people for these industries to target.

My concern is not if we call it a disease or not. It's what we are going to do about it. How do we help the people not the industries? Who cares what we call it! Let's start focus on preventative care not the cure. This is just my opinion.

kelsully

A benefit I can see of calling obesity a disease would be that medical professionals would begin learning about nutrition and realistic weight reduction methods. We always talk about how under educated the typical medical professional is about nutrition so maybe calling this a disease will lead to them being properly trained to give sound advice.

Big_Bad

Leptin resistance. Look it up. Someone already mentioned it in this thread but everyone is too caught up fat shaming to pay any attention.

There is a physiological basis for obsesity. Our eating habits are not as simple as "eat/don't eat". That is simple ignorance.

God the complete idiocy and hatred on these forums drives me insane!!!

sharpdagger

Didn't mean to seem like I was a bomb thrower-- throw out a smoking hot subject and run away.

But I appreciate the discussion going on.

My thoughts align with those who mentioned the personal responsibility. I'm not a proponent of calling personal weaknesses "diseases," or "addictions," aka diseases. I think we're all responsible for what we do, drink, eat, say, yada yada.

These days, nothing is anybody's fault-- drink too much? You can't help it. You're an alcoholic-- it's a disease.

Can't keep it in your pants, Tiger? Not your fault You can't help it. You're a sex addict-- it's a disease.

It's BS. And now, you can't put down your fork? Not your fault. It's a disease.

Please.

The results are twofold, as I see it-- neither of which are good.

First-- as mentioned above, it is too easy to shirk responsibility and look to someone else for the answer when it's found inside. To quote Nancy Reagan-- Just say no. And if you don't want to, fine-- but don't blame anybody else. And don't tell me you can't. You can do anything you want to, if you want it badly enough.

Second-- as mentioned in my original post-- it further opens the door to government control. Already we have New York City telling businesses what type of oils they may and may not use, and what size drinks they can and cannot sell. (yes, that one has been overturned...but is on appeal.)

It could also lead to:
-proper recognition and assessment
-greater self accountability
-more resources to help people who need help

It may actually lead to things like tax deductions when people are doing things to fight obesity.

I hope it doesn't lead to passing blame as you say. I don't think it will.
I hope it won't lead to too much "control" or new taxes. I agree this is something that will need to be watched.