OBESITY A DISEASE, II

WaPo is a few days behind the blogosphere on this one:

The rising number of Americans who are seriously overweight has triggered intense debate among scientists, advocacy groups, federal agencies, insurance companies and drug makers about whether obesity should be declared a “disease,” a move that could open up insurance coverage to millions who need treatment for weight problems and could speed the approval of new diet drugs.

Proponents argue that new scientific understanding has clearly established that obesity is a discrete medical condition that independently affects health. Officially classifying obesity as a disease would have a profound impact by helping to destigmatize the condition, much as the classification of alcoholism as a disease made it easier for many alcoholics to get treatment, experts say. But equally important, the move would immediately remove key economic and regulatory hurdles to prevention and treatment, they say.

Opponents contend that obesity is more akin to high cholesterol or cigarette smoking — a risk factor that predisposes someone to illness but is not an ailment in itself, such as lung cancer or heart disease. Labeling it a bona fide disease would divert scarce resources, distract public health efforts from the most effective countermeasures and unnecessarily medicalize the condition, they say.

Nevertheless, the move to classify obesity as a disease appears to be accelerating. The Internal Revenue Service ruled last year that, for tax purposes, obesity is a disease, allowing Americans for the first time to claim a deduction for some health expenses related to obesity, just as they can for those related to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other illnesses.

Intriguing. I’m not sure what expenses one would incur in buying less food.

Three years ago, I had lasik surgery to correct severe nearsightedness. I had to pay every penny of it, including follow-up visits to the optometrist, out of my own pocket even though I had a Blue Cross plan that covered vision care. Why? Because it was considered “cosmetic surgery.” There is no dispute that myopia is a medical condition. On the other hand, most of us are able to drop excess weight by merely watching our diet more closely and increasing our exercise regime.

Update (1239): CNN/Reuters

No matter what diet you are on, if you eat less and lose weight you also lower your risk of heart disease, doctors reported at an annual heart meeting.

Weight Watchers, the high-fat Atkins diet, the extremely low-fat Ornish diet and the high-protein, moderate carbohydrate Zone diet all help people lose weight and all reduce cholesterol, but in different ways, the researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association this week.

“On average, participants in the study reduced their heart disease risk by 5 percent to 15 percent,” said Dr. Michael Dansinger of Tufts University in Boston.

“Instead of saying there is one clear winner here, we are saying they are all winners.”

And, as might be expected, the closer dieters followed the plans, the more weight they lost.

Those who stuck it out for a full year lost, on average, 5 percent of their body weight — or about 10 to 12 pounds.

Similar results have not been found for those suffering from cancer, which is actually a disease.

Update (1243): Dean and Rosemary Esmay are thinking about starting a diet and excercise blog.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Just another move to take away personal responsibility. Overweight? It’s a medical condition and a part of my genes. Smoke? It’s an addiction and I can’t stop. Homicidal maniac? I was born that way and it’s not my fault.

    Nothing anybody does is their own fault any more, is it?

  2. hln says:

    Diet and exercise blog? Got one of those. No, wait, I have a NUTRITION and exercise blog. That word diet – die with a t.

    Biggest piece of advice I give? Don’t take anything you read as gospel. Research any advice, “even mine.”

    That last sentence of the article you quoted – “Those who stuck it out for a full year lost, on average, 5 percent of their body weight – or about 10 to 12 pounds”

    So? What’s that mean? Is that muscle loss? Are they exercising? Where’s that weight in a year?

    Obesity CAN be a medical condition – a disease – but those cases are rare…where something in the body isn’t functioning as it should, much like other diseases that inhibit or accelerate something. If obesity is “destigmatized” with the disease label, it will not help rid the world of the problem. And it’ll never happen, anyway. The media will ensure that. And society’ll keep yapping about body image.

    For those who want to give advice about diet/nutrition/exercise, start posting your credentials. And join me in St. Louis in April for some nice long bike rides. That’s one good thing the urban/suburban sprawl is good for. We’ll go easy, say 40 or 50 miles the first day.

    Oops, James, sorry – I get a bit passionate about this stuff – so much so I’d best get dressed for the gym so I can torture my poor spouse’s arms and shoulders as well as my own. A girl’s gotta watch her figure.

    Ciao.

    hln

    hln

  3. hln says:

    Scrabble makes me this passionate, too. Really.

    hln

  4. jeff says:

    Hey man – How can I be a victim unless we all proceed with the myth that my behavior and actions are utterly out of my control?