According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey 111, one in every three Americans is obese! Obesity is defined as being 20% above the ideal weight for height. The simplest definition is an excessive amount of body fat. Even more alarming is the number of obese children, which has doubled since 1961! High sugar and fat diets, and physical inactivity are thought to be the primary causes of obesity in children.

Obesity is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat versus overweight, which is defined as having excess body weight relative to height.

Classically obesity is defined as weight greater than 20% more than the average desirable weight for men and women, and a body fat percentage greater than 30% for women and 25% for men.


Hmmm now after reading this, it shows that obesity is cause by diet. And are we not in control of our own diet? So there for how can obesity be considered a disease?

Thats interesting

i only eat when i am hungry some times i go for days then pig out.if i work out i eat like a pig.i have 2% body fat i eat annything i want and my blood test say it is all good.i think some pepole are just built different it is ok to have dun lap

I do not think obesity is a disease. I don't think alcohol or drug addiction is either.

But you can have other diseases that can cause weight problems. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, & wieght gain is a symptom.

hi

Uh huh. I see the stories about obesity all over the place.

What I have never figured out is exactly what scale they are using to make the determination.

I know there is one that the docs love to use ( the Body Mass Index, I think ) that say " you should be this weight for this height " but that scale is WAY out of whack.

I am 5'8" and I weigh 200 pounds.

The BMI says that at my height, I should weigh about 170 pounds.

That puts me a 30 pounds " overweight " which also puts me into the " obese " level.

Sorry, that's a load of horsesh*t.

It doesn't really take into account your body style or genetics.

I'll grant you that lots of people actually ARE obese, but the percentages are based on a skewed system.

Is it a disease? There are some cases where something physiological actually causes weight gain. So sometimes, yes.

Most of the time, it's simply a lifestyle choice.

Just my humble opinion.

Hi John. TY *eats flower*

Yes, I do understand that there are some medical conditions, such as the ones that you have listed. Those yes I can understand as being a disease. But that is something beyond a persons control. Just to sit there and eat because you do not know well enough when to stop, is that really considered to be a disease?

It is nice to hear what people think. Thank you for your response.

Thank you for your opinion. It really does matter.


How do we define obesity and overweight, you wonder?

1. Calculated indices – Body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage
2. Visual observation of body types – endomorph vs. mesomorph vs. ectomorph

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is commonly assessed by using body mass index (BMI), defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres (kg/m2). A BMI of 24 to 27 kg/m2 is defined as overweight, and a BMI of over 27 kg/m2 as obese. These markers provide common benchmarks for assessment, but the risks of disease in all populations can increase progressively from lower BMI levels.

BMI increases amongst middle-aged elderly people, who are at the greatest risk of health complications. In countries undergoing nutrition transition, over nutrition often co-exists with under nutrition. People with a BMI below 18.5 kg/m2 tend to be underweight.

Obesity is not a disease, HIV/AIDS is a disease, cancer is a disease, heart disease, etc. Are all diseases...obesity can be a symptom of a disease but a person does not suffer from obesity then, they suffer from the disease that caused obesity...that being said, I have to go underground now or they will find me and silence me. *shifty eye's*

Isn't this nothing more than justification for being overweight? You can claim "well, their numbers say I'm obese, but i'm not!" Obese is a term thrown around much too often. Being obese is being medically overweight. People seem to confuse being obese with just being fat.

This is true my Bmi has me at obese also but I am healthy,

People need to be concerned about their health and not societies sick agenda with thinness.

I am a thick woman and I love it and so do the men.

Yes, a very flawed system. According to the BMI a great deal of atheletes (very notably NFL or weight lifters) would be considered obese when comparing their weight to their height...

I was reading either today or yesterday about the flaws of the BMI. The article also pointed that some people who really are obese can have less risk of cardio problems than some who fit into the BMI. According to article, [if it's not techincally a medical condition] it's really the individual and what they nourish themselves with as opposed simply their numerical weight.

Of course there will continue to be research studies every so often that contradict themselves just enough to drive everyone crazy.