Anorexia/Obesity - Disease or lifestyle choice?

Answer 1

Disease:

psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion. Individuals with anorexia often control body weight by voluntary starvation, purging, vomiting, excessive exercise, or other weight control measures, such as diet pills or diuretic drugs. It primarily affects young adolescent girls in the Western world and has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric condition, with approximately 10% of people diagnosed with the condition eventually dying due to related factors. Anorexia nervosa is thought to be a complex condition, involving psychological, neurobiological, physiological and sociological components.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_nervosa

Answer 2

I think that they are two totally seperate things and can't be combined this way. I think that Anorexia begins as a combination of lifestyle choice/environmental disease.

Obesity often runs in families... it probably starts out as a lifestyle choice, but becomes and environmental disease.

Answer 3

Anorexia is an illness, my wife suffered for 6 years. She really wanted to enjoy her food but got the shakes when it got near her, its like a phobia...and you wouldn't say a phobia is a lifestyle choice. Seeing as it kills more than a thousand people a year in the UK, don't tell me its a choice because it isn't. Its an awful illness to have and is mainly psychological and can be helped with treatment.

Answer 4

Disease most definately. Lifestyle choice? No way. Who would choose to end up in hospital or worse still, dead? Humans suffer from all kinds of diseases so why is it looked down on if you are either anorexic or obese?

Answer 5

Anorexia and obesity start out as a choice you make - to over eat or not to eat. This can be compounded by a number of contributing factors - including depression or illness or medication (my son was on steroid medication for his asthma that contributed to obesity)
This then becomes a monster of its very own that is hard to defeat.

Answer 6

I think it's a lifestyle choice. Now a days they call everything a disease.

Answer 7

It starts as a lifestyle choice & then turns into a disease which most can't control.

Answer 8

BOTH TO ME ARE A DISORDER THAT IS CAUSE FROM LACKING SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE.....NOT A DISEASE IT IS A DISORDER THAT YOU CAN GET HELP FOR IT...AND GET SUPPORT FORM OTHERS THAT KNOW ALL ABOUT...YES, IT'S A LIFESTYLE THAT NEEDS HELP......IF YOU ARE THINKING OF BECOMING ANOREXIA...PLEASE DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOR...GO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT IT FIRST..IT'S NOT A FUN WHY TO CHANGE YOUR LOOKS IF YOUR OVER WEIGHT...YES, I GUESS YOU"RE RIGHT IN A WAY IT IS A LIFE STYLE CHANGE...IT CAN ALSO KILL YOU...BECAUSE ONCE YOU START DOWN THAT ROAD YOU GET INTO SO BAD THAT YOU CAN'T STOP...I KNOW A BEST FRIEND THAT WAS THAT WAY..HER STARTED OUT BY GOING ON FOOD BINGES... AND THEN MAKING HERSELF VOMIT TO GET RID OF ALL OF IT...SHE DID THAT FOR A FEW YRS...AND THAN SHE STILL WASN'T HAPPY..SO SHE CHOOSE TO GO ON MORE OF IT BUT MORE SERIOUSLY...SHE BECOME AN ANOREXIA..AND WHEN SHE PASSED DUE TO HER HEART COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE SHE WEIGHTED 58 LBS........SO IF YOU OR ANYONE WHO READS THIS AND THINKS THIS IS THE WAY TO GET RID OF YOUR WEIGHT....PLEASE THINK AGAIN.....THERE ARE SO MANY DIETS OUT THERE YOU CAN TRY OUT AND GET THE WEIGHT OFF...THEY JUST AKE A LITTLE LONGER BUT AT LEST YOU'RE STILL HERE..................

Answer 9

both. It's kind of like alcoholism. Its a lifestyle choice that turns into a disease.

Answer 10

Mental disorder. Anorexia usually stems from family problems. Obesity usuallystems from family problems. Most sufferers are not good communicators with one or more members of the their family

Answer 11

for some people initially a lifestyle choice n then becomes a disease but for others its due to some hormonal problems --which is genetic.