AMA classifies obesity as a disease (Page 7)

EXCELLENT article, thanks Pitt.

Kind of echos much of the sentiments in this thread on both sides of the argument.

I agree, great article.  Good get Pitt.

No.. they would pass on their genes because storing energy for lean times would be a HUGE advantage over those that could not. Those skinny people back then would just starve to death.

I guess there is no need to keep saying the same thing different expecting different results... I am not fat. Never have been. I think when I was young I ate twice as much as my sister, yet she is 400 pounds, and I have never been over 200 in my life. I know just from that, there is more to it than she consumed more calories and I burned more.

Perhaps you might have guessed, I might have had a substance abuse problem in my past. I have no idea what so ever if obesity and substance abuse have anything at all in common. Yet my experiences do play a part in my opinions. What I know for a fact down to my bones, is that I was born different, and that I have thought the exact same way every day of my life. There is something in me that is different than you, and both of us consuming the same substance produces drastically different responses. From day one I knew it did something much much more for me than it did to the people I was hanging around. But you do not get that, anymore than I get hearing voices and having psychotic breaks, or being pregnant. I just don't get it.

You seem to want to argue that since there is a small or large part of the problem that is personal behavior... that everything else is null and void. That we solved obesity decades ago, eat less, move more... next. Nope, don't want to here it... next.... Anything in pill form is 100% wrong, for everyone.

The problem is that no two people are the same, and that we all exist in a range. And that two people at each end of the range can produce drastically different responses to different things. Sure, you are 100% right.. eating is completely a voluntary choice. It is not like breathing. If you do not put food in you, you can't get fat. Case closed. Not once here have I argued the opposite of that... that if their is a mechanism at work... then the person is 100% guilt free and nothing they did had anything to do with them being fat. You seem to argue that I have. What I have argued is that it is BOTH. People are most certainly responsible for their actions, and that some have strikes against them others don't. And that they may indeed need more help, or may find more help in the future, than just being told eat less move more, it's all your fault. I do not know. I'm cool with people trying to figure it out.

Me personally, I gave up better living through chemistry a long time ago. If they came out with a pill today to "fix" me, I do not know if I would care. It would be really interesting for once in my life to know what moderation feels like. I have no idea what it feels like to be at peace. To feel content that what I have is enough. I have never know that feeling of satisfaction my whole life. Yet in the end, what I have to do does not change... don't take substances. And if I did on meds... well then I know in the back of my mind that if I laid off for a while then things would get REALLY fun... and there I am again... with a choice. But I have wondered, what exactly does it feel like to just have "one". To just be "normal". To just have a fun night with friends, and then walk away.... that must be pretty nice, but I can only imagine. I have a feeling, that some that are obese, have never felt full once in their life. But I do not know, I'm not obese.

After reading through this thread I'd have to say, this is the best statement I've seen.

There is an over 90% fail rate of those who attempt to try to lose weight and are unable to do so.. To the eightish % who have been successful? Great.

It would sure be nice to find a way to help. No one who is overweight wants to be that way. 

What makes you think that the clarification of obesity as a disease does not mean that the medical community will not look at causal factors and address them? 

There has been a growing awareness of the seriousness of childhood obesity but according to what I've read, almost no treatment. It's been my experience that unless there is an official label to something, there is no genuine support made available. 

You mean like trying to claim the cost of soap because using it to wash your hands might prevent colds? 

I'd love to see some deductibility for my tri expenditures and agree the by-product of the lifestyle is good health...

However I have little faith in the government's ability to write/enforce legislation that can differentiate between triathlon health care expenditure deductions and a new "wedge or driver"...

I've been away for a while and a lurker too so I'll just say my opinion is unchanged, that personal responsibility to manage your lifetstyle is the answer to ending obesity, not a new label...

Noelle has made MANY good posts attempting to clarify and I can't understand how anyone can argue with her logic? 

Perhaps the way to continue the discussion is to separate obesity from substance abuse....I suppose too there are some commonalities but they truly are different animals...

Excellent article, I think it sums things up nicely.

Thanks for sharing.

Obviously, I am a little sensitive to the subject for various reasons. I am probably too close to look at it objectively. I apologize if I went overboard.

I don't really have an answer if you are of the opinion this is more of the same problem. I never argued it is the best solution. All I know is that nothing is working, including eat less move more. People do not change until they want to, and the AMA is not putting a gun to anyone's head.

Props to all those that decided to do something different.

This post has not yet recieved the love that it deserves.  I really applaud all of you who are willing to share your stories, especially in a thread where there are some pretty harsh things that might (reasonably) make you not want to share that personal info. 

Batlou, you are most certainly not a lazy POS.  Congratulations on your IM.  I hope I can complete one one day :)

I'm a scientist.  It's what I do for a living.  I know there is a lot of science that says it is, in fact, calories in and calories out.  Going through baby weight loss x3, I know it wasn't that simple for me, and I do not normally struggle with my weight, and I am at a very healthy low BMI, Low BF now.  My weight loss (55, 65, and 73, respectively for 3 kids) was never linear, but rather stair-stepped down. 

I hope you break through this plateau.  It took integrating concerted strength work and some periods of high intensity cardio for me to drop the final pounds.  In my experience, clean eating helps a bunch too.  Best of luck to you and thanks again for your post.

Part of the biggest issue it seems, is that the AMA itself is unable to agree on the classification of "disease". If they cannot agree, then how can we? 

As far as the article goes, my problem with his analogy is this. If one stays underwater for a significant amount of time with no oxygen they will drown. 100 percent of the time. get out of the water.. you won't drown, 100 percent of the time.

Some people can eat and eat and never get obese. Others like me, if i even look at a cookie, I gain weight. 

I can't understand why there is a distinction between clinical vs cultural remedy. Why can't the two work in tandem? I have two friends that have gone through gastric bypass.

Both have had huge weightless and lifestyle change as well. 

One more thing, the diet and lifestyle multibillion industry to promote "lifestyle" change has been an absolute ABYSMAL failure. Personally, I think that is one of the greatest reasons why we are getting fatter and fatter. It's been shown that 90% of people who attempt to lose weight by drastically changing their diet, end up gaining back MORE weight than they've lost. Again, to you small percentage of people who have lost weight and kept it off, awesome, but you are in a very small group. 

Personally, I've always been thin, but after my son though, it became  a lot harder to keep weight off, even though I eat less and am more active than I've ever been. 

One more random thought. "Obese" people in this country face the same kind of ignorant discrimination that those of race, or ethnicity. It is assumed there is something wrong with their character, or mental ability, and while most of us have a few of those "issues" people who look overweight as per BMI index are assumed to have some kind of special behavioral disability and has lovelingly been labelled on this thread as "lazy". 

As much as I agree with much of what you're saying, IME, the issue is even more complex as that.  It's not as simple as people avoiding/distracting/self-medicating.  The issue is multifactorial.

I believe it's partly genetic, but not in the "I'm just built this way" excuse that people tend to cite.  A large appetite and the ability to store fat was a survival advantage thousands of years ago when food was scarce and there wasn't the ability to preserve food throughout long cold winters, so those were the genes that got passed on.  In today's world of abundant food and preservation methods, this trait is no longer needed, but many people still have it.

It's economic and cultural, because the most affordable and easily accessible foods tend to be the least healthy and most fattening.

It's partially the result of the ongoing reduction in manual jobs that results in much more sedentary time and less active time.

It's partially psychological as a result of our more stressful lives with hectic schedules, so there is more of a tendency to eat in a misguided effort to relieve stress.

All of these issues combine for the perfect storm.

IMO, the only effective way to fix the obesity epidemic in this country is through a solution that takes all of the factors into consideration.

Most restaurants (at least chains) have listed this information on their web sites for years. Heck even McDonalds had that information in paper form inside the store since I was a kid.

I agree that putting it on the menus/boards where you order will be eye opening, but the "I didn't know!" excuse doesn't really fly with me, sorry