Today, the American Medical Association labels obesity as a disease. Frankly, I don’t think this is right. Obesity is neither a disease nor an epidemic. In fact, the AMA’s action went against the conclusions of its own Council on Science and Public Health, which had considered the issue for over a year.
The dictionary defines obesity as “the condition of being very fat or overweight; corpulence.” It defines disease as, “a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons.” That said, where is the disconnect? Eating too much or failing to exercise is not a genetic error, nor is it an infection. Obesity is a self-inflicted condition.
Not only that, it is preventable. An obese person can choose not to be obese. A change in lifestyle is all that is needed to cure oneself of this so called “disease”. This is not to say that obesity is easy to escape. In fact, losing weight can prove difficult at times. It is still possible, however. A person with cancer is not afforded the same opportunity. No amount of running can get rid of a tumor.
Smoking would be a better equivalent to draw to obesity rather than a disease. In the 1950s almost half of Americans smoked. According to the Surgeon General’s Report, from 1964 the prevalence of smoking declined from 42 percent to 19 percent in 2010. This occurred in spite of the fact that smoking is a highly addictive behavior. Thus, over the past 50 years, we have witnessed a profound change in society’s attitude toward smoking ,and this change has been accompanied by a substantial reduction in smoking prevalence.
There are those who argue that some obese people are powerless to stop themselves from eating too much. This isn’t true. Cigarettes have chemical nicotine, food does not. If people can quit smoking, they can quit eating.
The good news is that smoking and obesity’s similarities don’t end at that. Smoking is declining. This can be attributed to greater public awareness of the health risks associated with it. This is can be observed with obesity today. Schools are limiting the amount of junk food in cafeterias and exercise is being advertised to children at a young age.
Twenty years in the future, the obesity scare will hopefully be behind the country. Though it likely won’t ever go away completely. Smoking is still around today, but it is recognized it as a personal choice. People are supportive of those who fight to quit. The same should be done for those overweight. This doesn’t mean labeling them victims and classifying their condition as out of their power to change.