As we all know, there are a lot of obese Americans – 33% of adults and 16% of kids. Another 33% of adults are overweight, at least some of whom could be considered pre-obese. Memphians are all too aware of this, since we are considered one of the most obese cities in the country.
The World Health Organization and both the US Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health all consider obesity to be a disease. The arguments for this are that obesity impairs body function, decreases life expectancy, and can be inherited. If you compare obesity to hypertension, their causes and effects are very similar. But hypertension is internal to the body and unseen from the outside, while obesity is very apparent to the eye, and we as a society are prejudiced against obesity and obese people.
The flip side is that the most common causes of obesity are matters of personal choice and that many obese people do not have the impairments or conditions that obesity can cause. Obesity triggers other diseases but is not a disease in and of itself. This side of the argument states that we can control the causes of obesity.
What do I think? Well I’m just a personal trainer and this is a complicated issue. I agree with both sides. There are some people who have the knowledge and ability to maintain a healthy weight, but don’t. There are others who are economically and/or educationally disadvantaged and don’t know how – but could if they did. Some people have psychological or emotional conditions that interfere with weight control. Some inherit the genes that make weight control difficult.
It is interesting to me that both sides of the argument say that we as a society have to do a much better job of incenting the production and consumption of healthy foods in healthy amounts instead of unhealthy ones in huge amounts. And we have to value using our bodies for movement instead of sedentariness. Both sides advocate healthy eating and exercise for all people – obese, overweight, normal weight or underweight. So I make out either way!
What do you think?