Is obesity a disease?

[bigvalboy]

My loaf of Pepperidge Farm Hearty White has high fructose corn syrup added. It's almost ubiquitous.

 

True enough, and a classic example of marketing. Pepperidge farm markets and packages its product as something that is a healthy product, it is not. Which is why eating healthy and cheaper than a 'Fast Food Meal' takes time, planning, reading, and education.

 

As ISC mentions, it is absolutely possible to eat cheaper than a fast food meal, but it is not easy. It's a fallacy that you can't. You have to read the labels, think about what you are buying, plan your meals, educate yourself, consider alternatives and as he also says, which is really a very important observation...STAY ON THE PERIMETER of the store....

 

DISCLAIMER: This is not directed at you Seek..lol..it is just some thoughts I had on the subject.

[marylander1940]

True enough, and a classic example of marketing. Pepperidge farm markets and packages its product as something that is a healthy product, it is not. which is why eating healthy and cheaper than a 'Fast Food Meal' takes time, planning, reading, and education.

 

As ISC mentions, it is absolutely possible to eat cheaper than a fast food meal, but it is not easy. It's a fallacy that you can't. You have to read the labels, think about what you are buying, plan your meals, educate yourself, consider alternatives and as he also says, which is really a very important observation...STAY ON THE PERIMETER of the store....

 

May I suggest also walking a little big instead of driving every where?

[bigvalboy]

May I suggest also walking a little big instead of driving every where?

 

 

OK that's where I draw the line....lol....It's 90 degrees and 80% humidity. I'll walk the dog, but that's it.

[instudiocity]

Where did you get the information that the AMA "pushes pills" rather than encourage healthful lifestyles?

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2013/06/...ake-5-or-more/

 

That article doesn't even mention the AMA--or obesity. It doesn't even discuss whether or not physicians talk about healthful lifestyles. It has essentially nothing to do with your statement.

How do 70% of the people get those prescriptions? Who's prescribing all those 'scripts?

 

Without even considering the number of individuals who are not covered by health insurance in the equation, 70% of the population taking prescriptions, 20% of whom take 5 or more prescriptions - the AMA, medical doctors in general are prescribing pills instead of consulting, counseling and teaching their patients how to change their behaviors.

[instudiocity]

It's 81 here in the Valley, and humidity is about 50.

 

But seriously, you're retired, you can pull off "Mall-Walker" easily...

[marylander1940]

As the OP I'm glad about the honest discussion this thread has caused, specially so many posters who have talked about their personal experience trying to lose a few pounds by PM and some on here too.

[bigvalboy]

It's 81 here in the Valley, and humidity is about 50.

 

But seriously, you're retired, you can pull off "Mall-Walker" easily...

 

lol....probably.

[UconnFlyer]

For a small percentage of people, yes obesity is a disease. For most people, it's simply a matter of bad lifestyle choices....eating too much, eating garbage, exercising too little or some combination of all of the above.

 

I think it's very dangerous to classify obesity as a disease as it tends to encourage people to just come up with an excuse "oh, I have a disease" versus coming up with solutions. Again, there are exceptions for those small number of individuals who have legitimate issues (e.g. hormonal imbalances, metabolic disorders, etc).

[wisconsinguy]

I was classified as morbidly obese all my childhood and well into adulthood. Topping out at 303 lbs, at 5'6." Psychologically I had reached my limit. It was as I said to someone, "my first addiction." Also, I finally started to live what I believe to be my simple truth. Weight loss is a matter of intake and output. For over 15 years I have maintained a wt in the low 120's. Did I believe that I had a disease? With no impulse control, and of course using food for all the wrong reasons, perhaps someone could have classified me with some kind of disorder. Do I believe that it should be classified as such? No, EXCEPT if by doing so, it can set people up with certain basic premises of weight loss, exercise, and nutrition.

[instudiocity]

I’m convinced that as a child I was what clinicians today would call A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder). When I was in elementary school my mother would rap me on the back of the head, tell be to sit down, settle down, shut up, and do my homework. Now to the relief of many of parents A.D.D. has been determined to be a disease. Thus working parents are relieved from the responsibility of disciplining, and overseeing major aspects of their child’s upbringing. Their child has a disease and therefore society and the schools are required to accept responsibility for addressing the child’s problem. After having successfully taught high school for thirty six wonderful years I’m convinced that many of the diseases discovered during the last fifty years have been the creative product of the active minds of PhD. psychology candidates. We now have a virtual alphabet soup of new and exciting diseases. The unfortunate result of these discoveries is that parents are assuming less and less responsibility for their children’s upbringing and are transferring those responsibilities to the schools and other government institutions. The results are not pretty. A good number of public school children are over medicated and out of control. I really don’t understand why parents should be relieved from the responsibility of bringing up their own children.

 

Now as regards obesity I feel much the same way. Many complain that their obesity is not caused by poor personal choices but rather by the fact that they have a disease. Once it is determined that they have a disease and are ill personal responsibility for their actions is eliminated. It isn’t their fault that they are obese – they are ill and society MUST take responsibility for curing them. Thus we see Mayor Bloomberg in New York attempting to regulate the size of sugary drinks people may buy. We hear dietary activists attempting to have the government force fast food purveyors eliminate supersizing. One elementary school principal in Los Angeles Unified School Districts attempted to ban home lunches. She claimed that school lunches were healthier and thus the children should be forced to eat them. Fortunately she lost that battle. We hear these same arguments when it comes to alcoholism and drug addiction.

 

Now I’m going to say some things that will undoubtedly send some of you ballistic so get ready to come and get me. This entire line of thinking is pure BULL SHIT. People need to take responsibility for their own choices and actions and not expect society to take care of them. I know the term “Nanny State has been overworked but I am terrified by the idea that that is exactly what the U.S. is becoming and what the long term results will be.

 

The MacDonald’s sugar in the buns comment brings to mind a story a friend told me many years ago. He and his wife were visiting Budapest, Hungary for the first and decided that they needed a MacDonald fix. While eat their burgers a very well dressed gentleman approached an introduced himself as the MacDonald’s Vice-President for European operations. He simply wanted to inquire if they found the Budapest food the same as at home. As they talked he told them that hardest part of the MacDonald burger to duplicate abroad was the bun. When they first started operations in Great Britain they went to an established bakery and gave the baker their recipe for the buns. He immediately complained that there was too much sugar in the recipe. The MacDonald people said never mind that was how they wanted it. For several months things went along fine but then people began to complain about the bun. When the baker was asked if he had changed the recipe he readily admitted that he had cut the amount of sugar in the dough. They requested that he return to their recipe which he did but again after several months the same problem arose. MacDonald ended up terminating their contract with the baker and decided that they would have to set up someone, who was NOT a baker, in business to produce their bun and that is exactly what they did.

 

A brief personal anecdote. For most of my adult life, I think I qualified as massively obese (5'7" and 240#). Then, about 7 years ago (long after I'd given up even trying to lose weight), I started a hobby that called for more activity and thinking about things besides food (and the obvious "other"). I started to lose without noticing. Finally, I noticed and started doing things like keeping a food diary, eating slower, portion control, stairs--no elevator, parking far away from stores--you get the idea. It wasn't easy, but I started to believe that it was possible. It took over a year, and I did have one severe electrolyte imbalance, but it was amazing how much better I felt overall--especially, in my case, orthopedic-ally. I hadn't even realized how compromised I had been. Long story short: today I weighed 119#. I watch what and how much I eat. I eat slowly. I never eat out of habit or continue to eat just because others are eating. Did I have a disease that I recovered from? For me, it seems to have been mainly in my head. Something as simple as observing my eating habits really made a difference.

 

True enough, and a classic example of marketing. Pepperidge farm markets and packages its product as something that is a healthy product, it is not. Which is why eating healthy and cheaper than a 'Fast Food Meal' takes time, planning, reading, and education.

 

As ISC mentions, it is absolutely possible to eat cheaper than a fast food meal, but it is not easy. It's a fallacy that you can't. You have to read the labels, think about what you are buying, plan your meals, educate yourself, consider alternatives and as he also says, which is really a very important observation...STAY ON THE PERIMETER of the store....

 

DISCLAIMER: This is not directed at you Seek..lol..it is just some thoughts I had on the subject.

 

For a small percentage of people, yes obesity is a disease. For most people, it's simply a matter of bad lifestyle choices....eating too much, eating garbage, exercising too little or some combination of all of the above.

 

I think it's very dangerous to classify obesity as a disease as it tends to encourage people to just come up with an excuse "oh, I have a disease" versus coming up with solutions. Again, there are exceptions for those small number of individuals who have legitimate issues (e.g. hormonal imbalances, metabolic disorders, etc).

 

I was classified as morbidly obese all my childhood and well into adulthood. Topping out at 303 lbs, at 5'6." Psychologically I had reached my limit. It was as I said to someone, "my first addiction." Also, I finally started to live what I believe to be my simple truth. Weight loss is a matter of intake and output. For over 15 years I have maintained a wt in the low 120's. Did I believe that I had a disease? With no impulse control, and of course using food for all the wrong reasons, perhaps someone could have classified me with some kind of disorder. Do I believe that it should be classified as such? No, EXCEPT if by doing so, it can set people up with certain basic premises of weight loss, exercise, and nutrition.

 

Every ONE of these responses are AWESOME!

 

Thank YOU!

[smendez1942]

For a small percentage of people, yes obesity is a disease. For most people, it's simply a matter of bad lifestyle choices....eating too much, eating garbage, exercising too little or some combination of all of the above.

 

I think it's very dangerous to classify obesity as a disease as it tends to encourage people to just come up with an excuse "oh, I have a disease" versus coming up with solutions. Again, there are exceptions for those small number of individuals who have legitimate issues (e.g. hormonal imbalances, metabolic disorders, etc).

 

My thoughts exactly

[rentboytyson]

I understand your point of view but in the USA usually fat people are also poor, the cheapest food is usually the unhealthiest choice. If you go to Appalachia and our cities ghettos you'll see a lot of overweight children.

 

We know what's good and bad for us to eat and it is up to us to make a choice but what if we can't afford vegetables and have to end up at McDonald's over and over again. You can easily tell a wealthy family by simply looking at the wife, if she's in shape, it's very likely to be an upper class family. Have you notice that redneck wives are usually fat?

 

Actually redneck wives are usually fat because they are at home BAKING a lot...not because they buy chips and hot pockets all day. I should know I grew up on a 8k acre ranch in Idaho. I grew up making Banana Bread almost weekly...and every summer all my mormon brothers and sisters would make baked goods for the open class portion of the county fair . Not only that but the cheapest food is not junk food, that is a HUGE common misconception which is why people on food stamps go for a $2-3 bag of chips only because it appears bigger and is more filling because of the crap in it. People buy junk food because it makes them feel good and makes them feel full and they THINK its cheaper and its not if you consider the health comparison to $2-3 in apples and oranges. I dont think obesity is a disease, I think the effects of obesity are diseases but obesity itself, for the most part, is a choice. Some people are definitely more inclined to be obese because of genetics and therefore they are going to work twice as hard as someone as me who comes from a family of bean poles....lol But my aunt and uncle are very heavy, my dad has diabetes, and my redneck parents are now alot heavier than they used to be...so who knows maybe i'll hit 30 and realize I am one of those "have to work harder than others"! America is getting heavier when other countries really arent...its a social thing. There are a ton of factors...

[Guest]

Probably the hope in calling something a "disease" it means "something deserving medical attention, and which would be best to try to control or get rid of." I think we were all relieved when they stopped calling homosexuality a disease, because we felt it was not something we felt could or should be treated. We have learned in the last several years that obesity puts people at risk for some very serious health problems, and that when treated successfully, better health ensues. The nomenclature is an attempt to open the door to medical care, and to get away from the mindset of thinking of obesity as a "personality problem" or just a cosmetic issue (although, of course, personality does enter into the equation, as it does for many other health problems).

[samhexum]

Obesity is becoming a health crisis across the globe — but are chemicals and dust in our homes partly to blame?

 

Recent studies have suggested substances dubbed “obesogens” — found in household dust, packaging, plastics and furniture — can alter our hormones to build up fat in the body.

 

The most recent report made a bold claim that “removing shoes when entering the house to avoid bringing in contaminants” like dust and “removing or minimizing carpet at home” could help people stay slim.

 

The Portuguese study also suggests reducing the amount of plastics in the home, avoiding cleaning products where possible, frequently hoovering and buying fresh food over processed products will help banish obesogens from the home.

 

Lead author Dr. Ana Catarina Sousa, of the Universities of Aveiro and Beira Interior, said: “Obesogens can be found almost everywhere and our diet is a main source of exposure, as some pesticides and artificial sweeteners are obesogens.”

 

“Equally, they are present in plastics and home products, so completely reducing exposure is extremely difficult — but to significantly reduce it is not only feasible but also very simple.”

 

So, what exactly are obesogens and are they making you fat?

 

Chemicals that enter our body and alter the way our body stores fat are referred to as obesogens.

 

They program our cells in two ways; first, they promote fat accumulation through increasing the number of fat cells, or they make it more difficult for us to lose weight by changing our ability to burn calories.

 

told The Guardian: “For some medical reasons, such as protection against allergies, yes, it’s advised to keep a dust-free home and so, too, is removing shoes to avoid bringing in dirt from outside, but these things will not make you a healthy weight. Only a balanced diet and regular exercise will do that.”

 

Richard Sharpe, a scientist at the Center for Reproductive Biology at the Queen’s Medical Research Institute in Edinburgh, added: “While it’s not possible to dismiss the hypothesis that certain environmental chemicals to which we are exposed could perturb [or] reset body regulatory systems so as to predispose to obesity, I remain unconvinced that obesogens are likely to be important players in the obesity epidemic.”

 

Previous studies have also suggested exposure to household dust increases your chances of being fat.

 

A study from Duke University in 2017 suggested dust from flame retardants in sofas and carpets, as well as phthalates, substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, harbors hormone-disrupting chemicals that can trigger the body to store fat.

 

Dr. Christopher Kassotis who led the research published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, said: “We were most surprised by how low the concentrations were that we saw as having an effect.”

 

And in February a study from Harvard University found perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), chemicals used in non-stick pots and pans, mattresses, carpets and even clothes, caused weight gain.

 

The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, found those with higher levels of the chemical in their blood tended to have slower metabolisms.

 

People with a slower metabolism burn fewer calories during normal daily activities and may have to eat less to avoid becoming overweight.

 

Senior author Qi Sun said: “Now, for the first time, our findings have revealed a novel pathway through which PFASs might interfere with human body weight regulation and thus contribute to the obesity epidemic.”

 

Previous research has shown PFASs have contaminated drinking water near industrial sites, military bases and wastewater treatment plants.

 

The chemicals can accumulate in drinking water and food chains and remain in the body for a long time.

 

But of all the research, one thing is clear, you would have to have incredibly high levels of these chemicals in your body for them to be making you fat.

 

It’s more likely that a poor diet and lack of exercise are causing the pounds to build up on your waistline.