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© 2025 AFPIs obesity a disease? Sometimes but not always, experts decide
By Julien Dury and Daniel Lawler PARIS©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
32 Comments
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kibousha
There's one tactic used by companies, 'create conflicting "research" results, so no conclusion can be concurred from endless "discussion"'. The foods companies, oil companies, social media companies have used them to great success.
virusrex
The article is not an example of conflicting research, BMI has been know for a long time to be an incomplete way to evaluate health risks, it is just a convenient one that unfortunately leads to invalid generalizations too often to be used as it is right now.
The point is not to consider obesity as a normal, desirable thing for people, but to actually differentiate when it affects the health or not, the blanket determination of treating a person as diseased when it surpass an arbitrary number (in weight or BMI) is not as precise as making a more detailed evaluation. For those in the majority that have elevated health risks the situation would be as normal, while those that are still healthy then obesity itself would require nothing more than vigilance.
This is not something that is happening only in weight related problems, other metabolic risks are being treated in the same way, things like genetic markers of risk for dementia or serologic evidence of risk for cancer have been previously taken as signs of disease but may be better treated as indications of vigilance but the patient still be considered not yet affected by the disease.
Geeter Mckluskie
It's not a disease. It's a contributing factor in various diseases such as heart disease or diabetes.
Big
"Is obesity a disease?" Yes. It's a disease of putting too much crap in your pie hole.
"Is obesity genetic?" Yes. Kids copy the eating habits of their parents. Parents eat crap, feed their kids crap, kids grow up thinking crap is normal and their "overweightness" is just because they drew the short straw in the genetic lottery (funny this never happens to any other species - they all look the same, they also don't have access to ultra-processed food, save domesticated animals who can suffer the same as us).
"Am I obese because obesity runs in my family?" No. No one runs in your family.
Geeter Mckluskie
Good one
virusrex
This flawed definition would make many other things "not a disease", for example malnutrition, that would also be "only" a contributor factor, that is not useful. As the article clearly explains the much more useful definition would be that:
When obesity affects the functions of people's organs, it should be considered a distinct illness called "clinical obesity," the commission said.
Mr Kipling
Obesity is a lifestyle choice.
virusrex
No, it is a very complicated condition that is heavily promoted by many factors, including socioeconomic status, culture, genetics, etc. The mistaken concept of obesity being just a choice is what facilitates crisis like the one happening in the USA.
Raw Beer
Yes, and often those choices are made based on bad advice, not with the goal of becoming obese.
Geeter Mckluskie
Is smoking a disease? It affects the function of the lungs.
it should be considered a distinct illness called "clinical obesity," the commission said.
Should and ought are not is and are.
girl_in_tokyo
BigToday 02:24 pm JST
It is far more complicated than that. People are genetically predisposed to having difficulty with gaining or losing weight, just as they may be predisposed to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or other diseases.
This makes it a struggle for some people to gain weight, while others struggle not to gain weight.
You sound like a 12 year old junior high school bully. I'd be quite amused if, as an adult, to see the results if you actually said this to someone's face. But internet bullies very rarely have the guts to say to someone directly what they write online. This is because at heart, bullies and internet trolls are both cowards.
Antiquesaving
If COVID taught us anything, it is being obese and overweight was a danger to your life.
A UK study found that 73% of all those that developed serious and life threatening situations from COVID (including deaths) were either obese or severely overweight.
Now let that sink in, 73%
wallace
My weight gain of 15 kg came from my cancer, cancer treatment, and post-cancer therapy. Not from eating and the lack of exercise. I have since lost 10 kg over five years and working to lose another 5.
It is not always about a "lifestyle choice".
virusrex
The medical consensus is clear in the way that this is not simply a choice, that kind of reductionist approach is what made the US develop the current crisis.
That is not an argument, the explanation never said that affecting function is the only necessary parameter to decide if something is a disease, just that it is one of them. Again, according to your flawed logic malnutrition is not a disease, since it obviously is that evidence the argument is not rational.
When valid arguments are given to justify the change that means the current situation is the one in the wrong.
Deo Gratias
I had to stop reading at the words "global health experts."
That's because the "health experts" haven't exactly sported a stellar record in the last few years.
Obesity is not an "illness," for Pete's sake. It's almost exclusively the result of people's behavior and life choices.
This "illness" didn't seem particularly prevalent prior to the advent of social media, smartphones, video games, a massive increase in the number of fast-food joints, kids not playing outdoors so often anymore, and a host of other waist-expanding behaviors.
Getting tired of the "experts" trying to "medicalize" every problem out there -- and giving people an excuse to absolve themselves of personal responsibility by tagging the "illness" label on the consequences of their actions.
Deo Gratias
Sorry to hear about the cancer. I hope and pray that your treatment was successful. My brother also went through it last year; thankfully he's doing well.
Now having said that: Your story is, with regard to the article's topic, anecdotal.
True, it's "not always about a lifestyle choice" -- but in the vast majority of cases, it is.
Your own experience is obviously authentic, but it's also obviously an outlier. It's an anecdotal exception to the rule, one that doesn't "cancel out" the fact that generally speaking, obesity is the result of one's dietary and exercise choices. Poor choices, to be specific.
Again, individual and anecdotal stories such as yours don't in themselves negate the overall general fact.
Deo Gratias
Exactly. I believe in the U.S., among non-elderly people who died with COVID, an even much higher percentage than that were obese.
Japan's obesity rate is a fraction of the U.S. rate. And Japan's number of COVID-related deaths per capita was also a fraction of America's.
Not a coincidence.
Deo Gratias
I sense that what Mr K tried to say is that obesity is, far more often than not, the result of lifestyle choices. Not that it's a lifestyle choice itself.
It sounds like semantics, but it's not. Words mean things.
Yes, there are cases where obesity results from situations outside the person's control. But they are exceptions to the rule.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, obesity results point-blank from eating too much and not exercising enough. Yes, it is that simple.
And it doesn't help matters that in the U.S. and presumably other Western countries, the "fat acceptance" and "healthy at any size" movements are pushing the lie that obesity isn't really unhealthy.
It doesn't help matters that people who rightly sound the alarm over the West's obesity epidemics get shouted down and accused of "fat shaming."
And it particularly bristles me when people in the "fat acceptance" crowd also call for universal health care. There's a lot of overlap between those two camps.
And it bristles because these people are enabling and encouraging a clearly unhealthy condition while at the same time demanding taxpayers foot the bill for the health consequences of that condition. Ticks me off.
Deo Gratias
So we shouldn't say anything as someone balloons to well over 250-300 pounds -- at least not until it actually starts affecting their organs?
Shouldn't we warn people against allowing that to happen in the first place -- by advising them to keep their weight down as much as possible?
Going with this "commission's" logic, we can only tell someone to stop smoking AFTER it affects their organs -- specifically, AFTER they get lung cancer.
Heaven forbid we tell people to, you know, not smoke in the first place. You know, so they don't get cancer at all.
Mr Kipling
Very true but nobody is force feeding the obese cakes, donuts and soda thereby consuming more calories than they need over years.
MilesTeg
Yes sometimes weight gain can be physiological in nature or the result of a medical procedure and thus not as controllable. But this is a very small minority and I question genetic factors as well. Just cause your mother and grandmother were obese, doesn't mean you'll be also.
In the vast majority, they are behavioral factors and lifestyle choices; decisions people make like overeating, eating unhealthy food, and not exercising.
Attempting to call obesity an illness is only to take the focus away from behavioral/lifestyle choices and make it appear that they have no control and thus it's inevitable. I'm severely fat because of my family history and because I have an illness that results in me not being able to control how much or what I eat and that I'm unable to exercise. When the percentage of obesity increases and more become obese, there's a tendency to create sympathy for themselves and remove any semblance of personal accountability.
Raw Beer
I agree, many who are obese have made obvious poor choices, and deserve the consequences. But there are many who try hard to lose weight but fail miserably because they are given poor advice, from the "respected experts".
It's not as simple as calories in calories out...
virusrex
Yes they have, people live longer and healthier lives than ever before, even counting countries where social, economic, genetic, etc. factors make their work more difficult.
You know who has less successthan the health experts? those that reject the recommendations of those experts.
Still wrong, the experts have the evidence behind the claim, they use arguments. You on the other hand just like to call them wrong for making the population in general much more healthier than ever before.
You are just listing some of the many different factors that promote obesity. Are you going to say that diabetes is not a disease? because those same factors promote it, according to you that would make it also "just a decision".
Probe with actual epidemiological data, the experts can easily prove that many factors intervene and is it not just a choice as you misrepresent. Unless you can present that data in a peer reviewed report so others can validate your methods the experts are simply much more likely to be right here, not just nameless people on the internet saying that the experts must be wrong just because.
The genetics are not under the person control, the culture of his place of birth either, the wealth of his family, etc. you are simply trying to ignore very important factors that drive the obesity pandemic and pretend it is as easy as just decide to lose weight. That is precisely what make the problem such a disaster in countries like the US.
If there ir no organ affection vigilance is enough. Of course you first have to find out that 300 pound healthy patient. After all you are the one here that says this is possible, or even likely.
Why? because living a healthy life independently of their weight is so bad according to you? the problem here is that you are baselessly assuming this can only mean disease, which is not the case.
Choices that are not importantly affected by things not in the control of the patient? no, not at all. The problem is that you are trying to ignore these very important factors because you yourself may not be subjected to them, which betrays a deep lack of empathy and understanding of the problem.
Again, when the ones doing worst are those that don't listen to the experts that is where the problem is, not in the advice as you try to misrepresent.
Zaphod
The article starts with a weird premise. Has anybody ever claimed that obesity in itself is a "disease"? I have never heard that. Of course being massively overweight can not possibly be healthy, but the condition points to something that is wrong.... lifestyle and/or an underlying disease that leads to the situation. It is a symptom, not a "disease".
virusrex
The article clearly mentions why this is the case:
At the same time, some patients and doctors believe obesity needs to be considered a disease so that it receives the attention -- and ambitious policy -- required for such a major public health issue.
if someone is purely obese, without any other health problem, is he having a symptom of what disease? The point is that obesity is not necessarily related to disease in all people.
Zaphod
virusrex
I said "lifestyle and/or an underlying disease". It seems you overlooked the "lifestyle" part. Maybe better to read before responding.
virusrex
Again, you say this is a symptom, but if the person is perfectly healthy, of what disease is this supposed symptom? Your argument makes absolutely no sense.
That a certain lifestyle would lead to it makes no difference, the person is obese but have no health problem, so according to you the lifestyle brought a symptom of... nothing. It still makes no sense.
falseflagsteve
Don’t be a greedy guts and eat junk food, get out an exercise too, lol
Zaphod
virusrex
A symptom of the unhealthy lifestyle. Try to read.
And, btw, the health problems will come eventually anyway.
virusrex
Again, that still makes absolutely no sense, "unhealthy lifestyle" is not a disease, at much it will be a factor of risk. Also a person can be completely healthy with an unhealthy lifestyle so calling obesity just a symptom is nonsensical. Are you going to call being a man also a disease, or living in a big city? How about having low socioeconomic status or being lefthanded? because those are also things that elevate risks for people the same as an unhealthy lifestyle.
If the person is healthy there is no reason to call anything a symptom, because there is no disease causing them.
Zaphod
virusrex
Nobody said that lifestyle is a disease. Why the misquoting?
virusrex
No misquoting, that is all you, a symptom comes from a disease, and I clearly asked you:
but if the person is perfectly healthy, of what disease is this supposed symptom?
And you answered:
A symptom of the unhealthy lifestyle. Try to read.
So you ARE saying that lifestyle is a disease, which is nonsense. Or you are saying that obesity is a symptom even without any disease, which is also nonsense.