Health & Fitness
Is Being Fat Really a Disease?
When I saw that the American Medical Association declared obesity a disease, a chill ran up my spine. I was shocked. As a health writer, I have witnessed the debate regarding weight and how it has crippled Americans not only physically but also mentally. The number that shows on a scale is not just your personal sum. It is an integer in a political equation that is building up to create a new formula for segregation and classism. I cannot help but think that tying obesity to disease will further bolster the debate about the worth of people based on their weight. There are some benefits to the disease designation but there are also some detriments.
Let's start with the basics.
- 36 percent of Adult and 17 percent of children and adolescents Americans are considered obese.
- The medical costs of obesity was estimated to be $147 billion dollars in 2008 alone.
- In 1990, the Federal Government spent $43.3 billion on Medicaid expenses. By 2010, the number ballooned to $265.4 billion.
- Medicaid spending would be 11 percent lower if obesity wasn't an issue.
Calling obesity a disease can encourage more physicians to treat it as opposed to working hard on the symptoms and ignoring the elephant in the room (no pun intended). In 2004, for example, the total cost of obesity-related absenteeism in the workplace was $4.3 billion and that number continues to rise annually. Seems like it would be more economical to treat the underlying cause of these absences. As a disease, patients are supported in their insurance claims to receive weight loss prescriptions and have procedures done which can give them just the power they need to finally overcome this obstacle. Obesity is more than just people making bad food choices and not exercising enough. For some people it's also the body's inability to feel satiated and abnormal fat storage and utilization. Maybe a disease label will help people see it that way.
But calling it a disease can also prove to be a big mistake. This kind of label can easily be used as an out for attempting to improve one's health. The personal responsibility has been lifted. I can easily hear people saying "I have a disease. What do you want me to do?". Wow!! If people weren't already looking their noses down on folks with weight problems, they most certainly will now. Also, doling out prescriptions and bariatric surgeries like free passes to a concert really doesn't address the cause of obesity. What about mental health? What about the lack of access to healthy, whole, foods? What about the scare opportunities and resources for exercise? What about the lack of health education? Surgery won't fix that.
This classification will surely fan some political fires. People have been attacking fast food chains and beverage companies for years for creating America's addiction to junk food. Political heads have been using obesity as a way to flex their muscles and show they are "serious" about the health of their constituents. Will insurance companies now side with the "Nanny State" mayors and County Executives like our very own Ken Ulman about banning sodas? Does this kind of declaration from one of the nation's top medical organizations put companies like Pepsico and McDonald's on the most wanted list? Will Medicaid and Medicare step up their health education game and follow up with their clients on getting serious about losing weight? This is going to be interesting to watch, that's for sure.
There are many more debates surrounding this issue and I am sure readers of this blog will have no problem stating their opinions on and off this page. I just find it all so fascinating. I cannot wait to see how this issue will work it's way into political, educational, and medical agendas. But let's not forget that at the core of all this discussion, the health of this country is deteriorating. And we would be all the more wiser to flex our abdominal muscles more than our jawbones.
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