Obesity a disease?

Hmmm...well I think there are always exceptions for the rule but moreover what I have witnessed in my life is that it's personal decisions that get you that way. ie...eating poorly and not exercising leads you to obesity and therefore can limit your life and bring on disease.

Obesity can be *caused* by certain diseases, however, I don't believe it to be a disease in and of itself. The definition of "disease" is so loose, though, that just about anything could be classified as a disease.

I *get* that this could be helpful for a lot of people, enabling them to get medical treatment that wouldn't have necessarily been covered previously... However, I also see it as something that is going to cause insurance rates to increase overall (for everyone) as a result. As if the fact that they're going to skyrocket next year ANYWAY wasn't enough, now we have this.

well coming from that point like many others.. Most are lazy unless some medical issue.

Is laziness a disease?

Yes. Not all diseases are caused from a virus or bacteria but are in fact caused by inactivity. The two big ones are heart disease and diabetes type 2. Heart disease literally has the word disease in it so it's hard to argue with that. Liver disease can also be attributed to laziness and not a parasites, virus, or bacteria.


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so is inactivity not a choice??

if not a medical reason for not moving.

Don't know what you mean. You could "choose" to have unprotected sex and get HIV just as some could choose to be inactive and get heart disease or something not associated with a virus, bacteria, or parasite.


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Obesity IS a disease , I personally know someone that suffers from it and its a legit disorder just like anorexia. To say that a 500pound person is like that because they selfish and lazy is just illogical.
Do lots of research and make up your own mind .

I agree with this 100%

Im not sure if Obesity is really a disease. I'm Morbid Obese and I just think its because I'm lazy and I just don't want to control My eating habits.
However there is something that is classified as an eating disorder and its called binging. I am one of those people It happens and a lot of time you just cant stop yourself and before you realize it you a eat 20 times the amount you should. don't jump down my throat and tell me its all self control.
Having taken abnormal psychology in college as well as a few other courses just like bulimia and anorexia is a eating disorder so is binging.
to tell you the truth there is a difference between stuffing my face and binging when I stuff my face I know exactly what I am doing and I don't care. when I binge I just don't know what happened until its over and the guilt resentment the I cant do it sets in. which leads up to more eating. I haven't done it in a while.


but obesity in of itself No I cant see it being a disease. there are ways to control and help fix it with out tagging on the excuse its a disease so I don't have to deal with it.

this is not something that is contracted or stays dormant in your body til activated etc.. this is in a simple term brought on by being lazy.

so laziness = condom

This is such an over-simplification of the topic. In many cases it's correct, but in many more, it couldn't be further from the truth. There are many people who battle obesity & are active, but cannot simply increase their activity level due to other factors, such as injury, illness or genetics.

It's like saying alcoholism isn't a disease, it's a choice.

this is not something that is contracted or stays dormant in your body til activated etc.. this is in a simple term brought on by being lazy.

so laziness = condom

This is such an over-simplification of the topic. In many cases it's correct, but in many more, it couldn't be further from the truth. There are many people who battle obesity & are active, but cannot simply increase their activity level due to other factors, such as injury, illness or genetics.

It's like saying alcoholism isn't a disease, it's a choice.

so alcohol = laziness

i did state other than possible medical issues

however there really isnt much out there that cant be considered a disease. SO yea practically anything can be called a disease. technically.
A disease is an abnormal condition that affects the body of an organism. It is often construed as a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs.[1] It may be caused by factors originally from an external source, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases. In humans, "disease" is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, distress, social problems, or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems for those in contact with the person. In this broader sense, it sometimes includes injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations of structure and function, while in other contexts and for other purposes these may be considered distinguishable categories. Diseases usually affect people not only physically, but also emotionally, as contracting and living with many diseases can alter one's perspective on life, and their personality.

Although a lot of issues re obesity are down to the individual, eg genetics, diet when young, behaviours, it still isn't as simple as that!
It also is seen, in general, as the poverty diet. That is it may be seen as choice but sometimes people choose over processed easy, cheap foods, as they cant really afford fresh foods every daySo perhaps the food producers also have,some responsibility. Also everything is super sized so some cultural issues which need addressing, so again if these are on offer people will take it, but this has the knock on effect of shifting the norm for portion size. Just some thoughts!

So now thats its labeled as a disease, will weight loss supplements be covered by Obamacare??

They are covered in uk by nhs as is gastric surgery as it is thought the benefits of the surgery cost outweigh the cost of long term illnesses associated with obesity

Before the voice vote, Dr. Virginia Hall, an obstetrician from Hershey, Pa., said the AMA should call obesity a disease so "insurers can stop ducking their responsibility" in paying for obesity treatments, according to a Forbes report by Bruce Japsen.

It's not that they are "ducking their responsibility". There's an evaluation process that the person has to go through to determine whether or not the surgery will be covered. A good friend of mine is a nurse who works for an insurance company that does the evaluation process. It's not just a "nope. Sorry. Not covered." There are questions, things the insured has to do on their own, doctor visits etc. etc. etc. It's a pretty detailed process. If the surgery is approved then it's covered. So it's not as cut and dry as that.

In my opinion, a disease should be classified as a virus, bacteria, chemical imbalance etc. which is harmful to a being and that they have no choice over. For instance, depression is harmful to you and you can't choose to not be depressed.

You can, however, choose to eat less calories than you burn. I'm no doctor but I don't think there is a disease which stops your body burning calories. You won't be obese if you make that choice. I can't talk really since I don't have a serious disease but, in principle, it's pretty insulting to people who have actually diseases if you classified obesity as one as well.

Plus, again, in principle, it's insulting to classified someone who doesn't care about their weight and just wants to eat a piece of cake in peace, as having a disease.

I'm starting to understand all those people who complain that everything needs a name or to be classified lately

so is inactivity not a choice??

if not a medical reason for not moving.

Don't know what you mean. You could "choose" to have unprotected sex and get HIV just as some could choose to be inactive and get heart disease or something not associated with a virus, bacteria, or parasite.


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This is a terrible comparison. That's like saying someone who decides to only have unprotected sex has "a disease". It isn't saying that we wouldn't treat those with diseases that could have been brought on by obesity, now they want to claim that the obesity itself is a disease. Big difference.

It's a world wide epidemic affecting all classes of people from the rich to the poor. You better believe it's a disease.

Why is this being discussed on like 4 or 5 different threads?