Obesity is a disease - True or false?

SGM Matthew Quick — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 00:50:41 -0400

Where do you stand? Is obesity a disease or is it not a disease? Why or why not?

PRO
"Overweight and obesity are chronic diseases with behavioral origins that can be traced back to childhood."

CON
"Doctors should be required to tell patients a blunt truth: if you're fat, eat less, exercise more, or both. And if you keep guzzling the tasty treats, you will die earlier. It's not a disease, it's a mindset — and that means it can be changed. We doctors need to be a little less understanding, a little more judgmental, and realise [sic] that our oath — 'do no harm' — must come before our desire to save the feelings of our patients. The truth can be the hardest drug to administer."

Response by SPC George Rudenko made Jul 6 at 2015 1:03 AM

SPC George Rudenko — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 01:03:00 -0400

I say yes, as someone big. Even with restricted calories, workouts, I was always big. And I am judged that way. Some causes are medical, as with me. Some are psychological, some sociological. But, from the statistical point of view, it has to be seen as a disease as it is now a cause of death an other serious illness such as diabetes. With kids, I'd ask, where are the parents?

Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Jul 6 at 2015 1:08 AM

LCpl Mark Lefler — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 01:08:22 -0400

Last week, the American Medical Association voted to classify obesity as a disease. In one day, 78 million American adults and 12 million American children were deemed to have a medical condition that needs treatment. The decision was controversial to say the least.Jun 24, 2013

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Jul 6 at 2015 1:19 AM

Capt Seid Waddell — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 01:19:19 -0400

It is a mindset, IMHO.

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Jul 6 at 2015 8:51 AM

SCPO David Lockwood — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 08:51:28 -0400

That seriously depends on who you talk to. I think there could be somethng either genetically or mentally that causes this. This is just my thoughts.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jul 6 at 2015 9:05 AM

SGT Ben Keen — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:05:47 -0400

Doctors can tell people that they need to change habits and stuff until they are blue in the face but that doesn't mean the people will listen. You often hear people say they eat because [insert feeling], yet every day others reach a point when they realize that eating McDonalds for breakfast, lunch, dinner, 7pm snack, 9pm snack and 11pm pre-bedtime snack is not a good thing. They make the change and drop 100s of pounds. It isn't easy that is for sure but they make the change.

For others, it can be a medical thing. Some people have issues with how their body processes yellow fat and whatnot causing it to just leach on to their bodies.

So I guess it's hard to put such a black & white/true or false type of view on such a subject.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Jul 6 at 2015 9:21 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:21:22 -0400

Of and by itself it is not a diseases.
It is, however, a precursor of about a dozen diseases such as Heart Disease, Stroke and Diabetes.

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Jul 6 at 2015 9:25 AM

SrA Edward Vong — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:25:29 -0400

Obesity can lead to diseases.

Generally speaking, obesity can be cure with a good diet and some gym time. There are those that unfortunately have other issues which may lead to obesity.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Jul 6 at 2015 9:28 AM

Cpl Jeff N. — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:28:01 -0400

It is not a disease, it is a behavior driven condition. You can eliminate it if you have the will power to do so. It is the simple outcome of too many calories, fat etc in and not enough calories fat etc burned off.

Everyone want to be a victim these days. So let's make overweight people victims. I am sure that will serve some purpose like access to government benefits, handicapped stickers on cars etc and likely a new group to add to the non discrimination clause.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Jul 6 at 2015 9:48 AM

PO3 Steven Sherrill — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:48:54 -0400

Obesity is a disease. It is both genetic and mental. Certain foods trigger the same feel good centers in the brain as other drugs. Personally, I started putting on weight right around my tenth birthday. I have had a fight with my weight ever since. In order for me to get into the Navy, I had to drop twenty five pounds, and lose serious inches off of my waist in order to meet the body fat standard to go into the service. When I enlisted they told me at 6'2" I needed to weigh in at 195. I used a combination of crash dieting and exercise to make the loss I needed to make. Once I got in to the Navy, I was able to get down to 219 pounds at my best wieght. This was at the ASW Training Center in San Diego. That was a good weight for me. Unfortunatley, once I got to my ship I started putting the weight back on. I have to conciously think about food, or I will overeat the wrong types of foods.

Food can be as addictive as alcohol or other drugs. It is a constant battle with doing what I know I need to do versus what I want to do. Overeating is worse in the respect that if a person says that they need help with Drugs or Alcohol, people take it as something serious that needs to be addressed. If a person says they need help avoiding chocolate cake, it becomes the butt of a joke. I know that I make jokes about being overweight. The issue with overeating is compounded by the fact that your body requires food to survive. Alcohol and other drugs can kill you by over-indulging in them. Food can do the same, but food can also kill you from under-indulging.

I am not going to sit here and say that any one addiction is worse than another, I will instead say that all are illnesses that should be treated as such. Sometimes it is just a kick in the ass that the addicted person needs to get on the right track. Sometimes it is a deeper issue that needs to be addressed, and professional medical assistance is required to break the addiction.

One more part of the issue with obesity is that fatty unhealthy foods are cheaper and easier than healthier choices. A buck for a cheeseburger at the drive through is cheaper than a salad at the same drive through. Buying the ingredients to cook at home requires going through the groccery store (where most of them have fatty snacks assaulting the senses at the entrance and exit), then preparing the food. Hitting a drive through is faster. There was a time where for my family of four, it was cheaper by about ten dollars a meal to go to the drive through than going to the groccery store. Until people demand changes in the business practices of these establishments (demand with their wallets), nothing is going to change.

Using myself as an example, I went from 219 up to 320 by the time I left the Navy. My weight continued going up until I hit 435. While I was at 435, a friend of mine (that I regarded as a brother) died because he was too big. His heart just couldn't handle his mass (he was 6'8", 375 pounds, and overwieght), I started trying to lose weight. I went from 435 down to 368. I then had some life issues pop up that I dealt with by eating. I went back up to 410. Then I decided instead of going on a diet that was doomed to fail, I was going to simply change the way I buy grocceries and eat. I started buying grocceries based on meals, cooking every meal at home, and not eating a lot of processed foods. The other change that is going to help is that I am not looking at having a bad food day as breaking my diet, I am simply looking on it as another day. This has helped enormously. I am back down to 380, and that was without going on a diet. I am doing this because I am tired of the side effects of bad food. The lack of energy, the bloated feeling, the lack of endurance. I know that I have to be careful with food. I cannot buy extra food because it will disappear quickly. I have to buy exactly what portions are needed for the week. It is because I have started to conciously think about food that I no longer think about food.

Sorry for the rant.

Response by SSgt Donnavon Smith made Jul 6 at 2015 3:37 PM

SSgt Donnavon Smith — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 15:37:08 -0400

I recently lost 67 pounds. It is not a disease, it is an affliction. I am 207lbs (142lbs Lean body Mass) fairly active and can tell you that I gain weight if I eat more than 1400 calories daily. To lose the weight I went to 700 calories a day (for 8 months) and could eat anything I wanted as long as I took in 80 grams of protein. I go to the gym nightly and walk 5K at lunch every day.

I am tired of fat people saying it is a disease.
I am tired of skinny people saying eat less and exercise.
Unless you have been fat and are no longer YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY IDEA!

American food stuffs and culture lead us to over eating and this is not something that will change soon.

And BTW, I want one of the lucky ones who are skinny and say that it is an eat less and exercise more thing, to eat what I eat for a solid week.

Response by SGT Christopher Churilla made Aug 12 at 2015 11:28 AM

SGT Christopher Churilla — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 11:28:34 -0400

So, obesity is a disease? Please tell me how someone "infected" with it passes it on to someone else.

Response by A1C Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 21 at 2016 12:19 PM

A1C Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 12:19:28 -0400

Your choices he are ridiculous.
Obesity is a condition or a status, not a disease. Many conditions, illnesses, and other factors influence body composition, and body composition affects many more health issues. Fatness is simply an observable state.

Response by SSgt Charity Imfeld made Jun 25 at 2017 12:09 AM

SSgt Charity Imfeld — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 00:09:41 -0400

True. The American Medical Association voted to classify obesity as a disease in 2013.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Dec 3 at 2023 7:04 PM

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 19:04:21 -0500

Ok - We always had a 1SG to tell us when we were fat.
He was 6' tall and weigh 140lbs. EVERYONE was fat to him.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 3 at 2023 7:57 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 19:57:13 -0500

A problem here is when you diet. That stresses the body and it responds by packing on more weight because of the diet. It's a survival response in the human body.

Now some people have lower metabolisms thus the weight accumulates. Your normal body temp may be the normal 98.6 and my normal body temp runs around 97 degrees. Slower metabolisms.

Hormone levels will impact your weight so if you have endocrine issues you can put on weight.

Its way more complicated than eat less and exercise more.