Is Obesity a Disease?

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Should obesity be considered as a disease?
Obesity is a serious condition that has generated a discussion on whether or not to be classified as a disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity is the body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, which is calculated based on the person’s height and weight. For years, our society has been facing the obesity challenge, which can be extremely costly once it leads to several diseases. Thus, because of the constant increase of percentage of people with obesity, the American Medical Association (AMA) proposed in June 18, 2013 to classify obesity as a disease. Their argument was that obesity increases the risks of countless health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension etc. Moreover, it increases morbidity and mortality. By considering obesity as a disease, their aim was to maximize researches and funding, which will focus on obesity from different medical and health approach levels. Their idea of classifying obesity as a disease was in accordance with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s declaration of 1995. The institute declared, “ Obesity is a complex multifactorial chronic disease developing from multiple interactive influences of numerous factors.” In 2012, the CDC data showed 34.9% of adults obese and 17% of obese children. These numbers are very alarming especially since the struggle to deter certain factors contributing into this condition is still a challenge. Among the struggles, there are the people’s rights versus health regulations to keep them as healthy as possible like the former mayor Bloomberg regulation on soft drinks size cut. During CNN’s show GPS of Sunday 2, 2014, the host Zacharia...

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... No. I am healthy as always. Obesity is an extremely serious condition that if the concerned subject is not properly informed and educated, he or she is at higher risk of developing a disease. In addition, I believe that the obesity assessment should also be classified based on the levels of severity in function disabling. In light of this, obesity is a multifactorial serious condition which can results from environment, family history and genetic, behavior or habits and more. Although, we cannot change our family history and genetics, obesity can be overcome by our lifestyle and behavior change through physical activities, eating healthy and other healthy choices. Furthermore, for those whose lifestyle change are not enough, surgery like bypass might help. I recognize the long-term challenge of reaching and staying at a healthy weight is for overweight and obese.

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