AMA: Obesity is a disease

The definition of a disease is too lax, thus being easily manipulated you can make it cover any unsavory condition connected to humanity. After all even Merriam-Webster is non specific essentially saying it is 2) a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, Essentially one could argue that because over eating leads to health conditions that affect the human body, it is a disease.

Personally I think it's just another way to charge more money to people with health plans, which is now going to be everybody in the USA, therefore promoting more income. Smokers and obese people, I am sure us people that are alcoholics (determined by drinks a week) will be next. Follow the money. ^_^

No personal responsibility any more.

Really? After people sued the cigarette manufacturers, and the drive thru where they got the coffee they dropped on themselves, and the mall they walked into when they slipped in a bit of rain someone tracked in two minutes before them, you think the AMA decision heralds the end of personal responsibility??

for the record, the coffee burn on that woman's lap that people like to talk about and use an example of people not taking personal responsibility... actually scalded her with 3rd degree burns on her thighs and nether-regions that required serious medical intervention, the coffee was hotter than it was supposed to be (the woman was in the hospital for days and required skin grafts), and she only sued because they refused to cover her medical treatment, which is all she asked for originally.

Very true. Read the facts: http://www.caoc.org/index.cfm?pg=facts

That's corporate responsibility, not personal. How was she supposed to know the coffee was almost 200 degrees? I've had some pretty hot coffee, but it's never been that hot. There's a difference between this case and the "McDonald's makes me fat!" case.

nope. You cant pop pills and make obesity go away. Its not a disease.

This. It's too easy to say "it's not my fault, I have a disease". We need to make people more not less responsible for their health.

There is another perspective. When people go to the doctor and learn they have emphysema (sp?), they stop smoking. When they learn that they have bipolar disorder, they take meds. When they learn that they have arthritis, they change their habits to alleviate the pain.

Who is to say that if people are told that obesity is a disease that will kill them and make them uncomfortable, they won't suddenly find the motivation to get treatment?

Sure, they should know that already, but by calling it a disease, it may have more impact on the individual to get it treated. The point that people are missing is that this was done with the intent to instigate changes that will lead to some positive outcomes. Granted that there are pitfalls, but with every decision, there are pitfalls. However, something has to change if we expect the problem to change, and maybe all that is needed is for society to change the way that it looks at the problem.

Is obesity contagious? If so, I think I caught it from my friends. Damn them!

In all seriousness, I can see vague arguments for obesity being a disease. But I didn't get this way because I developed something or contracted it. I thought, "Hey, I really like fried chicken. Let's have some of that!" Many of our eating habits are linked with the way we think. So please explain to me why anorexia nervosa is a mental illness/eating disorder and obesity is a disease.

So I can get disability for not exercising? :drinker:

Just a quick question to those that think Obesity shouldn't be classed as a disease as it's a result of the " sufferer's " own actions.
Just to play Devil's Advocate here.
If a person contracts Aids due to a promiscuous lifesyle, unprotected with multiple partners - does that mean HIV / AIDS is no longer a disease?
If a person has Heart Disease caused by a lifetime of eaing unhealthily - does tha mean the Hear Disease is no longer a disease?
If a mother catches Measles looking after her infected child - is the measles no longer a disease?
If a person has Liver Disease caused by too much alocohol - is it not a disease anymore?
If 2 peope gte Lung Cancer 1. a heavy smoker and the other a non-smoker, is 2 suffering from a disease and 1 isn't?
Whether Obesity should be classified as a disease or not is definitely arguable.
But saying something shouldn't be classed as a disease because the sufferer caused it by their own lifestyle choices doesn't really hold any water as a logical argument.

^^^ that's exactly what I was thinking.

Just because it's caused by lifestyle choices doesn't mean it's not a disease. You can cure scurvy by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and it's caused by eating a really terrible diet. Does that mean scurvy is not a disease? It's been well established for well over 100 years that a bad diet can make you ill, the British navy in the 1850s was adding lime juice to sailor's rations to prevent scurvy on long sailing trips. That's why USA people call us Brits limeys. If someone got scurvy because they adamantly refused to eat any foods that contain vitamin C, and then the doctor tells them "scurvy is a disease" - does it follow that they'll say "I can't help it if i have scurvy" and carry on with their dodgy diet... or would it be more likely that a doctor would say "you are ill, you have a disease, because you refuse to eat vitamin C. If you don't start eating fruit and veg you will die" - wouldn't this make someone take more responsibility for the lifestyle choices that have resulted in them getting ill....?

Granted if doctors are actually saying "you poor obese thing you're ill, you can't help it" that would be a problem --- but does it really logically follow that that would happen as a result of obesity being considered an illness, as opposed to doctors saying "you have a disease that's caused by your lifestyle choices and if you don't start changing your eating and exercise habits you're going to die"

there are potential issues with this, the main one that springs to mind is that you'll probably get doctors diagnosing extremely fit people with low body fat percentages and a high lean body mass for their height with an illness just by looking at a BMI chart. That IMO is a bigger danger, i.e. doctors pedantically diagnosing healthy people with a medical condition they don't have based on poorly thought out criteria, than people using it as an excuse. If anything, being told that your lifestyle choices have caused you to get a disease ought to wake a few people up to the severity of the issue. On the other hand, if the classification of obesity as a disease results in more specific and reliable criteria than a BMI chart then that would improve things for fit people with a high lean body mass for their height.

I don't think obesity in and of itself is a disease. BUT just like alcoholism it does have its addiction. There are chemical changes when you eat obviously to metabolize what you eat. AND the the old adage does apply for you are what you eat. Now don't get your panties in a knot. We didn't start out wanting to get overweight but the need to anesthetize, cope, pleasure,etc. just kept it going. Those of us who have had lots of weight to lose know that our psychological reasons outweigh our need to eat. So the addiction becomes our illness. No matter what it is very hard to overcome the psychological reasons for eating. It can be a best friend and our worst enemy all in one.

Oh... it is a huge pet peeve of mine when people compare overeating to addiction. I respect your opinion, but as a recovering addict AND someone who has been in the range of morbid obesity, these two are not the same. There is a psychological aspect to the compulsion to overeat, however, addiction is a physical change in the brain. Very few chemicals found in food have the same effect. The ones that do have an insignificant effect or are completely illegal.

The financial implications of this boggle my mind.

If obesity in and of itself is a disease, everything that is currently being sold to fight obesity (effective or not,) is going to be covered under health insurance.

So my health insurance is now going to be used to buy my gym membership, my "it works!" wraps, my HCG, my Jenny Craig, my Nutrisystem, my Thighmaster, my Weight Watchers, my raspberry ketones, my green tea extract......the list is long.

How much are we prepared to pay for health insurance? The insurance companies are sure to pass along their increased costs in the form of higher premiums.

Weird, I thought the exact opposite. Some insurance companies will refuse to ensure anyone with a "pre existing" condition. If an obese person gets a new job and applies for insurance, what is preventing that new insurer from saying "Well, since obesity is classified as a disease, and you were obese before you signed up, you have a pre-existing condition. Sorry, we don't cover pre-existing conditions, therefore you're out of luck here."

I see it as more of a hindrance to insurance than a help. Insurance companies can deny people for a myriad of "pre existing" conditions. I know one person whose father had Huntington's Chorea. The guy I knew refused to get tested, because if it came back he had it, his insurance company would have refused to cover any costs associated, should he end up contracting it later in life. It was, in their eyes, a pre-existing condition.

nope. You cant pop pills and make obesity go away. Its not a disease.

I don't think obesity in and of itself is a disease. BUT just like alcoholism it does have its addiction. There are chemical changes when you eat obviously to metabolize what you eat. AND the the old adage does apply for you are what you eat. Now don't get your panties in a knot. We didn't start out wanting to get overweight but the need to anesthetize, cope, pleasure,etc. just kept it going. Those of us who have had lots of weight to lose know that our psychological reasons outweigh our need to eat. So the addiction becomes our illness. No matter what it is very hard to overcome the psychological reasons for eating. It can be a best friend and our worst enemy all in one.

Oh... it is a huge pet peeve of mine when people compare overeating to addiction. I respect your opinion, but as a recovering addict AND someone who has been in the range of morbid obesity, these two are not the same. There is a psychological aspect to the compulsion to overeat, however, addiction is a physical change in the brain. Very few chemicals found in food have the same effect. The ones that do have an insignificant effect or are completely illegal.