Should obesity be classified as a disease? Why or why not?

Question

Constructive, thoughtful answers, please. I'd like serious opinions on this.

Answer 1

well let's what the dictionary says on the definition of disease:

a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.

well, we have two problems here in defining obesity as a disease. One is what is the disordered or incorrectly function organ, part, structure, or system? Technically, an obese person's adipose fat tissue is functioning fine, they just have too much of it.

The second problem is defining a cause, although I see the solution here as saying it's a nutritional imbalance. But without being able to actually say what system is disordered or malfunctioning, I don't think we can really classify as a disease at this point.

If I was to try to shoehorn into the disease classification though, I would probably attack it from the hormone angle. If the hormones connected to eating aren't functioning properly to the point where your body ends up storing unhealthly levels of fats, then you could technically say that it's a person hormone system that is disordered. However, it's hard to say how many cases of obesity are really caused by a malfunctioning hormone system, either way it would only be some cases of obesity that would be considered a disease.

Answer 2

I'm not really sure. It does affect one's health and well-being, and it shortens one's life span. Then again, people can go on living with it. If it were classified as a disease, the cause would be an excess of what we need to survive - food. Since it is caused by something we need every day, I don't know if it really can be called a disease. Maybe a "condition" is a more accurate term for it...I just don't know.

Answer 3

because the age of 15, I truly have struggled with weight problems, at the same time as my acquaintances ate french fries and drank coke on the youngsters dangle out, i change into ingesting black espresso and weight-help plan soda, to stay primary weight. i change into energetic, swimming, walking to college miles in all climate and up hill one way for actual. i might want to come abode from college so hungry from time to time tthat i change into crying about it. each and every of the girls individuals on both mom and father area of the relations were heavy set, and that i inherited the curse. My best chum change into pencil skinny, too skinny, and she ate like a actual horse and change into no longer as energetic as i change into. despite the indisputable fact that none of her relations were heavy both. I had a gastro through bypass ultimately and lost some weight, I nonetheless conflict purely to stay a regularly primary length, and that i do not eat c*rap both. I o d on end result and vegetables, love salads, do not usually eat any quickly meals, yet my equipment is the way it really is and that i must eat so little or no with the intention to stay thinner, that its continuously a deprivation for me. on the different hand, a chum of my mom's used to whinge that she change into so skinny, ( she change into poor ) and continuously crammed her self to even save the little weight on her that she hated continuously feeling so bloated and crammed yet she had to eat as a lot as she might want to. bypass figure this all out. I wish some body might want to. the skinny human beings blame the fat human beings and attempt to shame them about over eating. some do for sure, yet i'm no longer one among them and that i have battled weight problems all my existence.

Answer 4

as much as smoking or anything else you have done to yourself that will eventually affect your health,

Answer 5

i don't think it's a disease.
it can be controlled without medication or surgery.