"Obesity is a disease not a decision"
 

This is a new campaign that the American Medical Association actually declared obesity a disease! Billboards with this phrase are popping up around the country.

I've worked out for 10 years straight and I definitely sacrifice eating shit food even though I enjoy it just as much as the next guy. THIS IS A DECISION I HAVE CONSCIOUSLY MADE.

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/da...n-disease.html

Discuss....

And I have plenty of fat friends. None of them have ever claimed it is a disease. They know exactly why they are overweight, most just don't care enough and are lazy to eat right and workout. I am fine with that but please don't tell me it is because you have a disease.

There are a few cases where this a classification of disease is true...thyroid issues. Most are not this issue however and a diagnosis of a metabolic disorder is way over diagnosed for people who are just lazy/uneducated.

It's a decision of laziness. Maybe a disease of the mind.

People become morbidly obese because they don't have self control.

Disease? Maybe.

It's solely up to the individual to cure it, though.

I'm a fat ass, but It's my fault I'm fat.

It's not a disease, afaic, but its not the same for everyone. I'm pretty overweight. I have friends who are way lighter than me who exercise less, eat more shit, and sit around more. So while, yeah, it's my decision to not put in the hours to get as light as them, it's also a little more complex than a fat person being lazier than a skinny person.

Depends on your view of laziness.

I've always been big and I've had more than a few jobs where I worked 10-12 hrs a day.

i imagine for some people it is a disease and i also think that certain people are more likely to gain weight than others.

i also think that for a significant % of people it's a decision/excuse/weakness. They like to eat and end up overweight.

Agree with this.

And while I wouldn't call it a disease, I would say there is a certain amount of addiction that goes hand-in-hand with it.

I would imagine the american medical association is campaigning for this so insurance will eventually cover all the shit related to fat asses.

That is definitely the agenda. We are all going to get raped having to pay for this shit.

I think they actually said they did it to give obesity a different classification so that further research could be done to prevent and treat.

Long-term, health care costs more for the healthy. They live longer and die slower, more costly deaths.

Link to study?

[IMG]<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/V7GnOyd_z1w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/IMG]

Logic. Fat people just don't live as long.

I think this thread can start and end with this post. Nice job. :clap:

Secondly, What's up with the slutty chic/ads/banner at the very bottom of the page. Yuck!

But they have a higher incidence of stroke, congestive heart failure and heart attacks. All which require more invasive live saving and cost measures.

Disgusting.

There's got to be a ridiculously small percentage of the population that can actually blame their weight woes on a medical condition. Most people just like food and lounging too much to do anything about it. Close your mouth and move your legs; it's very simple.

It's obviously a choice to be fat. In 1980 few were fat. If we were really meant to have fat people in our society, why did it just start recently?


If you are fat stop eating fast food. Drink water for every meal. You will lose weight immediately.

Eh, did some research and seems you are right.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/he...1.9748884.html

Maybe we should just not give these people healthcare so they die even sooner! Wonder if Obama would be on board? :evil:

And for most, that means death.

How many 60 yr old fat people do you know?

ROFL

Posted same link at the same time. I will say that more research dollars will be going into "obesity" with this disease classification, which is absurd considering we know the cause of it. I would rather that money be granted for more just causes than telling people not to be lazy, eat right and exercise.

So why ban cigarettes? I assume te same holds for them .

I'm almost 43 and I'm not diabetic or even have high blood pressure. I've always been heavy. I rarely get sick. I'm very lucky in that regard. Plus, I've always carried health insurance. So you can **** right off. :evil:

If alcoholism is a disease I imagine obesity could be classified as one too.

This isn't a vendetta against fat people, as I stated. Life is short and people chose to drink/eat what they want. No problem. We all put orders on what is important in our life. This is a thread regarding the absolute horse-shit nature of our soft weak country giving further into creating an even lazier culture. There isn't more shit we need to research about the expanding waists of individuals in the USA. The answer is pretty ****ing clear.

People have no sense of personal accountability anymore...

Sorry but you are conflating two different things. Obesity can be a choice and still be a disease. If a smoker gets lung cancer, is it not a disease in their case because they chose to smoke? Does someone who tans everyday and gets skin cancer not have a disease? Why is Type 2 Diabetes, which is the result of obesity, a disease but obesity isn't?

I don't know whether obesity should be classified as a disease or not, I just think your argument is horseshit.

Lazy is not a disease. No one should be in disability because they are a fatass.

It's way more complicated than everyone being "soft" or lazy. And it has as much to do with the kind of food we eat as the amount. Everything is processed and loaded with sugar and corn syrup. Add to that the fact that the majority of us work indoor jobs where we spend 10 hours a day on our asses in front of computer screens and it's pretty easy to see what the end result will be.

It's pretty much the same as any addiction, which is a disease.

The only difference is that we will no longer be able to make fun of fat people since it is not their fault.

Over-eating causes obesity (a condition) which causes diseases (like heart disease and diabetes).

This is the same line of shit they pull with alcoholism. Alcoholism is not a disease. It's a self inflicted condition created by the choices that person has made. Obesity is a self inflicted condition that raises your chance of all kinds of diseases, but people are not simply 'stricken' with obesity unless they have a legit medical condition (as some do).

No, it's not.

See above. Obesity is a condition, not a disease. Obesity leads to other diseases.

Perfectly said, WhiteWhale.

This is why I am not sure that it is a disease. If you take the line that addiction is a disease, then you could even say that obesity is just a symptom. My point is that you can't argue that something isn't a disease because it is the result of choice.

This is so that people that have a weight condition can get coverage under the affordable care act with no pre-existing.

Noep.

Not true. I know a lot of people that over eat but are not over weight. I know a lot of people that watch what they eat and are very careful because they can gain weight easily. There are too many variables to say that.

Sorry but this is an excuse people make. Metabolism doesn't have nearly the impact on weight that people imagine, but the effect that it does have can be boosted by exercising. If you have a poor metabolism, you can change that.

Weight loss/gain really isn't some mystery, its physics. Calories in, calories out. Your body isn't cheating you, but you might be underestimating how much you eat or overestimating the amount of calories you are burning.

If you put in more than you take out, then you are over-eating. I 'over-eat' if one simply looks at volume (4000+ calories per day) but I also am very active and that means I require more calories to function.

Nobody can 'over-eat' and not get fat... because they are obviously burning more calories than they are putting in their bodies. Genetics plays a role, but that doesn't mean people are diseased because some food causes them to gain weight faster than myself. IF that's the case all mexicans are diseased because a lot of american style foods (with lots of cheese) makes them fat. I think that's probably bullshit.

Pay attention to your body and how it reacts to certain foods.

That's the one.

:thumb:

So how do they justify 'sin tax'? Must mean it's just a gov't money grab. :mad:

I once at 5,000 calories a day when I was Olympic lifting and didn't gain a single pound. I weighed 190lbs at the time, not fat. I was "over eating" like a mother ****er, fast food almost every night just to get calories.

I didn't gain a single pound so technically I was not over-eating like you would claim. Metabolism is influenced by exercise. Want to eat what you currently are but not gain weight...burn more calories and increase your resting metabolism.

The people who you say are over-eating probably have increased their metabolism and thus get to eat more than your fat/sedentary friends who watch what they eat.

Well whatever we've been trying hasn't been working so might as well go the opposite.

Stupidity has greater proof of being an actual disease but we don't see anyone trying to 'cure' it.....

You guys are full of shit. I eat 3 big meals every day snack all I want and do whatever I want. It is almost impossible for me to put weight on and I am in my middle 40's. People are very envious of me because of that and always have been.

I could totally see how somebody can say that it is not a disease but sheer laziness, however, what brings on the laziness?

A thyroid condition or other physiological causes can impact the ability to "just get off your ass." Furthermore so can a mental condition such as depression. Not to mention the impact of medication on a person's metabolism or even genetic makeup.

Seems it is rather easy for someone to sit back and call people lazy when they are not predisposed to conditions that could impact metabolism etc.

Who's the lazy one?

The one that eats whatever, does no exercise, and still gains no weight or the one that follows a diet, exercises, and because of a medical condition gains weight.

I have to watch what I eat like a hawk, and it's getting worse the older I get. Even though I exercise between 12 and 20 hours a week. The reality has settled in that I'll never be thin, I'll never reach my 'target weight', but I'll continue to do what I can to make sure I'll never be obese again either.

My rule of thumb:


If a person's condition improves by simply being locked in a room for a month while being fed bread and water then it's not a disease.

I am in the same boat...if I don't watch what i eat it stays with me. I have to maintain vigilence in keeping myself "in shape" by medical standards.

I guess I choose not to throw stones because i found as I got older it got harder to keep the same body shape/size as I had when I was in my 40's. There are too many medical conditions that can contribute to weight gain that most can't/won't see.

Obesity -> Bullying -> suicide.

BAN AMERICA!!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...4082007_31.jpg
Guaranteed to lose > 10lbs in under 10 seconds.

Someone reading this thread with no prior knowledge would think that obese people are working their asses off to stay obese while people at a healthy weight are lounging around eating Cheetos. It just isn't true in 99% of cases.

I am sympathetic to all of the reasons why someone may be obese, and I definitely think addiction is a factor. But I don't think people should use those reasons as excuses either.

Only way I'm loses 10 pounds in under 10 seconds is if I put my pecker in there.

ITT: excuses.

Bullshit. The healthy pay monthly and never use it til later in life.

Fatasses use it contantly. Now that they are classifying it as a disease they can bill more for it. In turn driving up premiums.

That's a hell of a stretch there.

At some point the alcoholic no longer has a choice whether they drink or not. Their brain is wired differently such that the decision making pathways are bypassed. This is a medical fact. Can they recover? Yes with treatment. But it is very unlikely for them to get better through will power. Sounds like a disease to me.

Food triggers the same pleasure centers that alcohol does. To the same extent to where the brain gets rewired? I don't know. I do know that if we had less obesity, we'd be better off as a society. If that means making treatment more available and calling it a disease to get more medical attention focused on it, I don't see the problem with it.

Really you are almost trying to kill them. You know that bread and water will give a person horrible diarrhea leading to dehydration. Bread and water was a form of punishment.

ROFL it would cause constipation if anything.

You are a ****ing idiot.

This.

People who are obese are not necessarily lazy.

They have addiction problems. Same as alcohol.

Alcoholism and Obesity are symptoms of the disease and the disease is addiction.

You can be addicted to anything some without negative consequences.

You can be addicted to work, working out, sex, chocolate, food, alcohol, etc.

Anorexia is a symptom of of the disease of addiction. The addiction of wanting to be thin at all costs.

You're fat, aren't you?

Am I addicted to exercise because I go 3-4x a week and eat healthy and like to look good with my shirt off?

The "I can be addicted to anything" is a tiresome argument.

I accept that there are fat people wh cannot control their problem, be it mental or physical. Let's go crazy and say it's half of them. That still leaves millions of people who are choosing to be obese.

So you like guys with their shirt off?

I knew it.

Narcissism isn't a disease.

But it can lead to douchebaggery. :)

true


addiction is a disease of sorts but still millions and millions of people who just don't care enough to exercise and eat right. People who talk about 'comfort food' are a good example.

a large % people need to cut how much they eat literally in half

They get addicted to alcohol, food, sex, whatever because they are going through DEPRESSION.

That is the real problem.

I'm not fat, but I could lose about 10 pounds to be at my ideal healthy weight.


The problem I have is I try to buy healthy food at the groc. store but it seems more expensive than buying what gets us by. "Healthy Choice" say is more expensive than "Banquet" food products. That is just an example. Diet food cost more than regular foods. So I know "Healthy Choice" or "Smart Choice" brands are good for me but I chose "Banquet" product because it is cheaper and on a budget.

That is an example of what I think is part of the problem & no one really brings up the cost of diet food vs regular foods.


Hamburger & other meats cost more with less fat content. I don't pay much attention except the cost of the product if I can afford it.

These are issues I think America has & part of why people get so fat.

Bread is a fiber and water will flush you. You in no way would end up constipated.
Diarrhea is the reason for the Bread and Water punishment.

This.

Get ready for fast food, junk food and soda taxes.

What.

Most of the bread in stores is basically flour and sugar.

Bread is made of wheat. Wheat is a fiber.

Yeah sorry fat people, but stuffing your face with french fries and big macs is not a disease

Even if you could make some sort of argument that people get addicted to eating through depression, they are still choosing what they eat and how often they workout/exercise

I dont know anyone who is gonna get fat eating chicken and salads everyday while working out 3 times a week

Lol @ this thread

Fatties gonna fat.

ROFL. You need to do some reading.