Should Obesity be labeled a lifestyle or a Disease?

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date of Submission Is Obesity a Disease or a Lifestyle Choice? Introduction Obesity is generally defined as extreme accumulation of adipose tissue in the body. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there has been a rapid increase in cases of obesity across the globe and obesity is becoming a global epidemic especially in the Western countries where over one billion people have been categorized as being overweight. In the developing countries, the rate of obesity is also on the rise at an alarming rate. The risks of obesity are associated with the fact that; obesity contributes to a number of chronic diseases that are detrimental to the health of the individual. In the United States, the incidence of obesity is also high and obesity cases are noted to have “more than doubled in the past 20 years’ and at the same time, obesity among Americans is the highest compared to other developed countries. In fact, 27% of the American children are noted to be obese or overweight (Detroit). With these statistics, there has been increasing discussion regarding whether obesity is a disease or a lifestyle choice. The rising incidence of obesity has brought about a spirited debate with some people pointing out that obesity is a disease while another group of people insists that obesity is a lifestyle. Obesity as a Disease According to the American Medical Association, obesity should be treated as a disease since it fits the definition that is given about a disease. As per the guidelines given by the AMA, a disease is defined as anything that hinders the normal functioning of the body and has certain symptoms or signs. A disease is also defined as anything that brings harm or the inability to act normally. By following these guidelines, it is highly appropriate to categorize obesity as a disease. This viewpoint means that obesity is something that can be treated if doctors put the rights focus into the issue and if research and development is used as an option for establishing a cure for this ailment (Wexler). Under the new guideline, insurance companies are now supposed to cater for nutrition counseling since obesity comes alongside other life threatening conditions. The AMA notes that screening should be consistently done for diabetic people in order to help them in living healthy lifestyles. The view that obesity is a disease is dependent on various studies which show that obesity is caused by genes. Over the years, there have been various studies which indicate that obesity is heritable. In a recent review, it was pointed out that twin and adoption literature point to a genetic distribution for body mass index (BMI) of 50-75% while an earlier review suggested that genetic factors are responsible for 60-92% of BMI. The results of genetic studies where presented separately for normal and disabled adolescents, appear similar in many versions. Overall, the deductions of these studies mean that genetic configurations are widely responsible for obesity. There has been widespread support for this view with some people claiming that treating obese people in any other way is wrong as it leads to the branding of obese people as lazy something that is incorrect. The problem with this view is that there is lack of explanation on the reasons why some families have obese children while their parents are not obese. Such a scenario presents the view of obesity as a disease as being skewed since it lacks sufficient data to back it (Kolata). The other reason why obesity is classified as a disease is because such a recognition neutralizes the term and reorients it as an objective condition which can be diagnosed and treated. This according to some experts is what has helped in the fights against alcoholisms and other addictions. The move by the AMA to classify obesity as a disease was guided by the increasing stigma against obese people in the society. For a long time, obese people were shunned in the society and this led to the lack of help for this group of people that desperately needed it. By recognizing obesity as a disease, the AMA believed that this would help in reducing the stigma against obese people and lead to the creation of policies to help such people so that they could make meaningful contributions into the society. The move to recognize obesity as a disease would also lead to more people coming out in search of treatment options as they would not be ashamed of the condition. This would greatly help in the fight against obesity in the society and would also greatly reduce the burden that is linked to the treatment options for obesity (Kolata). According to AMA, even though obesity cannot expressly be categorized as a disease, it is closely linked to the development of other chronic diseases and as such the problem should be classified as a disease. This view according to the AMA gives people tangible to hold onto and leads to the development of treatment options to address the problem. Without this approach, the AMA believes that people would continue to shun obese people and as such the problem would become even more widespread in the society. Recognizing obese people as being sick however is highly beneficial as it brings the need to look for ways through which the problem can be addressed. Classifying obesity as a disease also helps in increasing commitment on the part of the government since it has to be committed to reducing the prevalence of obesity just in the same way that it is committed in reducing the prevalence rate for other diseases (AMA, 2008). The View that Obesity is a Lifestyle Choice Despite the AMA’s move to classify obesity as a disease, there have been those who have been greatly opposing the move. Over the years, research done especially on children has proved that a person’s lifestyle is usually the cause of obesity. According to Bagchi 320), the fact that parents are obese does not mean that the children will automatically be obese. Instead, Bagchi has identified that the major cause of obesity in children is the interaction between environmental factors and a host of other factors that trigger the susceptibility of the child to become obese. In the main, the factors that lead increased rate of food consumption combined with decline in energy expenditure, cause obesity (320). To start with, children consuming high amounts of food, large portions of food, taking in-between snacks, and regularly consuming sugar- sweetened fruit juices and beverages, are prone to be overweight or obese. Secondly, when these children take- in these foods and decrease activity, they increase their vulnerability to obesity. Most of the children today participate in sedentary activities for example; watching TVs, playing computer games and not engaging in physical activities. This kind of lifestyle prevents the food they have consumed from being utilized and thus they accumulate as adipose tissue and thus leading to th...