Michael Tanner writes at National Review:
Recently the American Medical Association declared that it will consider obesity a disease. At first glance, it’s a minor story, hardly worth mentioning, but in reality the AMA’s move is a symptom of a disease that is seriously troubling our society: the abdication of personal responsibility and an invitation to government meddling.
I am beginning to suspect that there may be multiple cause of obesity or at least overweight. Overeating, lack of activity, disease and genetics. Some are overweight, go on a regimen and lose down to exactly where they should be and remain there. Others on the same regimen will lose nothing.
You’re onto something there, MT. However, the disease is not medical in nature, it’s mental. Anecdotal evidence points to it being called the “Northern Mediterranean Mangia Mangia Syndrome,” and it has the full support of no less an authority than the Bible (Titus 1:12).
” If you have this problem it is impossible for you to become a “normal” weight and to even lose substantial weight requires a committment to a starvation diet forever.”
Patently false.
Obesity was fairly rare when I was a lad.There was no processed food around apart from cereals but we ate eggs and bacon and sausages mostly at the start of the day.
We lack a clear definition of when weight becomes clinically significant. Actuarial tables are all over the map on this. People with the same BMIs and even similar body fat composition have very different health outcomes.
On top of that, I’d say that, if obesity is essentially “medical”, it’s more like a symptom than a disease in itself, as jaundice is a symptom or intestinal bleeding is a symptom.
I’ve heard so many causes of obesity posited that I doubt them all.
Most people who are obese (not just overweight but really obese) are genetically predisposed to be obese. Just as diabetes is a genetic disease obesity is as well. If you have this problem it is impossible for you to become a “normal” weight and to even lose substantial weight requires a committment to a starvation diet forever. The problem with the discussion of this subject is so much political influence has been inserted in this to try to hype the obesity numbers. Now fit atheletes and voluptuous women are being called or fit the classification of obese. If Mariah Carey is obese then call me crazy!