Is Obesity a Disease? (Page 2)

Re: closet eating......  My brother, sister and I all grew up in the same household, each three years apart.  Now, many years later, we have learned that each of us will wait until our spouses go to bed to eat our "dessert", usually ice cream (well, I used to eat it, except now on race day, but I no longerwait )

None of us exhibited that behavior to the other growing up.  But we all feel the need to hide it, as if it is shameful, or maybe it's something we're keeping all to ourselves.  it's a pretty complicated issue.

BTW, weight is one of the few physical characteristics that is not "taboo" to discriminate against or comment upon, because those without weight problems assume (as a generalization) that the cause is purely the person's doing.  It's not always.  that is one reason it's a touchy subject....

OK, time to go pick up Hermosa race packet, rode the course this morning........

I like the quote from the person who said that it isn't a disease but it should be treated as one.

Personally I don't believe it is a disease anymore than alcoholism is a disease.  It is a behavior.  Smoking cigarettes is a behavior, not a disease. Eating too much food is a behavior.  Not exercising is a behavior.  Drinking too much booze is a behavior.

Having said that I will caveat this.  Everyone is physically different and some people are more prone towards addition than others.  Some people get addicted to alcohol and some get addicted to cigarettes and some to food while others never seem to get addicted.  I know people who have smoked 2 or 3 cigarettes for years and sometimes don't smoke for days. They are not addicted but they enjoy smoking.  Not me.  I was 2-pack a day smoker and was as addicted to cigarettes as any heroine addict is to his heroine.  But I quit drinking and smoking and have done neither for nearly 11 years.   It was a behavior change not a disease cure.

Similarly, I believe obesity is a behavior.  Or rather, obesity is the result of behavior - overeating and sedentary lifestyle.

I am very sympathetic towards obese people though because, like I said, we are all different and we can't begin to understand other people's addition.  I've done some pretty tough stuff in my life but by far the very hardest thing I ever did in my life was quit smoking.  No one will ever know how hard it was for me, even other smokers.

So then, I won't judge people who are obese because I don't know how hard it is from them to lose weight....even though I've lost 40 lbs since last Dec 1 by running 737 miles, biking 1,581 miles and swimming 13.25 miles since Dec 1, 2005.

~Mike

Good thoughts.   All the research on genetics probably has some play on this also.  I've heard people use genetics as excuses for all kinds of things.  The fact is, that just because it's in your genes doesn't make it good for you or "moral" or "immoral".  It's just in your genes.  The genetics in my family make for people who are thin and almost gaunt.  I've had to force myself to eat more at times in my life (I'm 42).  At one point the doctor had me drinking a couple of extra Ensure's per day. 

I guess I've heard the logic...

1) I'm _______________ (fill in the blank)

2) ______________ is caused by my genetics.

3) I can't control my genetics.

4) So being ______________ is o.k.

This doesn't seem to make sense to me.  If a disease is caused by genetics that's not "O.K.".  We try to fight it and fix it.  My being thin due to genetics and metabolism to the point of being unhealthy is not O.K.  The doc wanted me to gain some weight.  Just because it was in my genes doesn't make it o.k.

This comment isn't so much about being obese or thin, but at the way genetics have been or are being used to justify things in society.

As a Psychologist, my concern with calling everything a "disease," is that this terminology assumes a medical model in terms of development and treatment of the "disease." It paves the way for pills and surgery to treat obesity, but draws funds and energies away from non-medical treatments that are demonstrated, by research, to be more effective and/or less dangerous. It's great for drug companies though. As it is also probably great for the surgical center noted above that used the term.

Addictive behaviors can be very strong and extremely difficult to change, particularly in an environment where change is not supported. Simply saying these sorts of problems (obesity, drug abuse, gambling) are matters of personal choice or responsibility is certainly oversimplifying the problem and, more importantly, does little to help change behavior. Thus, I'm not against identifying obesity as a problem that will benefit from "treatment" (sociologically, behaviorally, medically, etc), but the emphasis should not be on purely medical treatments.