BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Large & Lovely Fat is Officially a Disease

The AMA has declared obesity a disease. According to Peggy Howell from NAAFA, "many believe this will further damage the already fragile relationship between physician and fat patient".

Highlights from Press Release dated June 21, 2013:

* Patients of high body weight are the one group of people who are least inclined to seek medical attention because of the discrimination they face.

* Physician’s weight bias, already a major problem, is now moving beyond just stigmatization to clear dislike and negativity toward the overweight, (Brochu P., Esses V., [2009]).

* Couple this with the fact that physicians have received insufficient or no training to address or examine fat patients and are frustrated with the lack of resources available to them (Amy NK, et al [2006])...

* "The AMA just put its official stamp of approval on the widespread weight bias of physicians." stated NAAFA Advisory Board Member Dr. Deb Burgard.

* Key points against AMA Ruling:
**AMA turned away from science and the recommendations of its own scientific advisors
**AMA cited economic motives in colluding with corporate interests
**AMA failed to reach this decision with input of the relevant community of higher-weight people

* NAAFA demands: A reversal of this designation and an immediate roundtable discussion that includes higher-weight people from every community.

* fat activists have started the #IAmNotADisease hashtag on Twitter.

* Author and fat activist Marilyn Wann started a Change.org petition, which is already getting strong support. https://www.change.org/petitions/american-medical-association-stop-defining-obesity-sic-as-a-disease

Learn more about NAAFA here --> www.naafa.org

It actually surprises me that it took this long for this to happen.

Everything is either called a disease or if it's not then it's still used as an excuse.

Now what I'm about to say do not apply to babies and children because when you are a baby and a child it is your parents who are the ones who provide you with the food that you eat. A disease is something that you do not bring to yourself like obesity. To be obese you have to eat too much and to not exercise. When you eat like your stomach has no end and you barely move of course you will become obese and you only have yourself to blame for this. The food industry has nothing to do with this just like commercials, movies, shows, books, toys or whatever else that people want to blame for the choices people make also have nothing to do with obesity. When you see that you have a few pounds extra do something about it then do not wait until you have hundreds of pounds to lose. It's that easy.

As for the parents who make their kids obese or fat these people should have their kids removed then stuck somewhere and forced fed everyday at least until their kids have lost all the weight they gained by the abuse their parents did to them!

Interesting discussion.

Is alcoholism a disease? Drug addiction? I am leaning toward thinking that obesity is a condition that results from excess storage of fat. A disease is an abnormal condition where organic components or systems are not functioning properly. In an obese person, his organs are functioning properly. They are metabolizing and storing as they were designed to do. There is just too much incoming nutrients and they are being stored.

I would think that one would prefer obesity to be considered a disease such an cancer so the medical community would take obesity seriously. There should be more prejudice if obesity was not deemed a disease.

There are some cases when obesity truly is the result of genetic problems or other malfunctioning body systems (thyroid, etc.)

A disease is an illness. If obesity by itself is an illness, it is an illness of the mind that is causing the body to overeat, underexercise. I think it should be considered an emotional illness much like drug addiction.

Treating obesity as a disease will help, not hinder, overweight people. They can be taken seriously by their doctors who will focus on treatment and not just brush off the patient as one with no willpower.

Addictions too are not a disease. Addicts chooses to be addicts, noone forces them to start taking or doing whatever they are addicted to (except of course the poor babies who had their mothers take drugs while they were pregnant then are born addicts).

People do not buy a cancer gene then just injects themselves with it, people who have other disease too do not do that.

Yes some diseases are brought by poor decisions (like the people who smokes then get lung cancer) but thyroid problems or nothing else can bring hundreds of pounds except for eating in excess without exercising.

The original decision to take a drug/alcohol/cigarette, etc. I agree, is not a disease. However the associated addiction (be it physical or mental) is a disease. It is something the person does not have control over, which is why most people need help in conquering the addiction. There are many diseases that are caused, or at least added to, by our decisions and lifestyles; such as Cirrhosis of the liver, Type 2 Diabetes, lung cancer, certain forms of skin cancer, etc. These are still considered diseases even though they are brought about by outside influences. I'm with Lori in that treating Obesity as a disease may actually help mend the Dr./patient relationship. Physicians may not be so quick to judge as to judge their patients and instead be more understanding and thoughtful in getting them the help they need and want.

Sorry about the hard to read post. It is not letting me do paragraphs, yet. No Ubb code, yet

True, Nancy. But the compulsion that drives people to do things that they really don't want to do is the illness. There are many levels of obesity and many degrees of control or lack of. The super obese have a mental compulsion that they cannot control. It's like saying someone with OCD should just get over it and control their obsessive thoughts and behavior.

Excessive overeating is a state of mind. It is the mind that drives behavior.

Any compulsion is still an illness if not a disease. Either way, it deserves the full attention of the medical community as it causes a staggering host of diseases and conditions.

I used to love to eat. I ate out of sheer pleasure and sometimes as a self-medicating strategy. Did I have a disease or an illness? No, because I could manage it. But those who have a compulsion can't. During my years at a major weight loss organization, I interviewed countless of people with varying weight loss goals.

There were those who wanted to drop 20 pounds and those who needed to drop 600. There were clients who told me horrifying stories of not being able to stop themselves from gorging on three whole cheesecakes in one sitting while crying because they felt revulsion for themselves for not being able to stop this behavior. That is a compulsion. It is a mental condition.

I know why people overeat. They made pleasurable connections to food and reach for it when they want to feel good even if it makes them feel bad afterward. The weight loss game seems simple: eat less, exercise more.

But for permanent and healthy weight loss, you have to understand your mind and change how you view food and exercise. I actually wrote two mini-books about this called, "Mind Games for Weight Loss: How to change how you see food and exercise in an instant" and "How to Help Your Spouse Lose Weight and Get Healthy in 12 Easy Steps."

But I will send anyone associated with BOL a free PDF. Just send me a PM with your email address.

HEY CHELLEY!!!!! You were my training editor here at BOL when I first became the marriage site editor back in...gee, was it 2008 or 09? I left Marriage, went to Japanese Food, Living Simple and then back to marriage and my second site is Dreams.

I am so happy to see you're back. Hope all is going well with you and yours.

Hey Lori! It is good to be back. I just needed a little time away from everything. Everything is going well with us - we hit a few snags along the way, but all has worked out.

I have no problem with the diseases that people can bring to themselves being called a disease because a lot of people get these diseases without bringing it on themselves.

I also believe that some people cannot stop themselves from eating and that is a disease (like anorexia is the opposite of this and is a real disease) but still calling obesity is wrong because it is not.

When my depression was at it's worst I spent about a year if not worst inside the house and all I did was cry, sleep, watch televison and eat. I did not make myself throw up and did not stop myself from eating what I wanted and with all that I did not gain one pound extra. I never have eaten low and no salt, sugar and fat foods and I have never been fat or obese. I did get a tummy in 2008 and I immediately started working on that before it got worst. I may get diseases because of my high fat, salt and sugar diet but I make sure at least to not gain weight and I can do that even with low self-esteem, a depression, anxiety and stress issues. The same with drugs and anything else, I could of used my many problems to start an addiction but I knew it would just bring me more problems so I never did. If one day I get a disease because of my diet then I will only blame myself.

Unless someone is making excuses and wants everyone to bend over for them or puts other people in danger I do not judge people who have weight and addiction issues. I just do not want these things being called a disease because they are not.

Besides the only reason this was called a disease is for the pharmaceutical companies to make more money off people.