Fatness: Now a disease!

[gambitia]

The American Medical Association has officially recognized obesity as a disease, a move that could induce physicians to pay more attention to the condition and spur more insurers to pay for treatments.

“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three

Comments

[wesleysgirl]

Ditto. And a couple of pints of Ben and Jerry's.

Re: FUCK YEAH RECIPE THREAD!

[gambitia]

This is a wonderful idea and you are a wonderful person for having it! Those with Nutella sound incredible!

Swedish Meatballs! Not my grandmother's recipe, since I don't have it memorized and I don't have her recipe box with me atm, but it's pretty close. Amazing over mashed potatoes or egg noodles or just stuffed into your face with abandon because they're delicious!

[kaelstra]

Oh boy! I can't wait for doctors to trot this out as "proof" that obesity is bad for me, and that losing weight is the miraculous key to getting rid of all my health problems.

[gambitia]

They already do this for me!

My major depression? Just lose weight!
My PMDD? Just lose weight! (Bonus point here for potentially harmful medical advice!)
My recurring sinus infections caused by my allergies? Just lose weight!

And my stories are tame in comparison to what some people have gone through, up to and including doctor-caused death because some doctors can't get past "Just lose weight!"

[kaelstra]

Yeah, my doctor does this currently, it's just now she can cite that the AMA has actually ruled obesity as a disease, so see? See? That's totally evidence right there that I need to lose weight and all my problems will go away!

[gambitia]

If you lose weight you'll totally win the lottery, marry a prince(ss), live in a castle, and cuddle with kittens every moment of every day! All problems shall evaporate!

[kukamine]

Are you fucking kidding me? This is just going justify body shaming even more for the bodyshamers. Being skinny doesn't equal healthy.

[mollywobbles867]

I am of two minds from this: for one, this could mean that insurers would pay for gym memberships or exercise equipment or food services like Nutrisystem. But, it also means that doctors may start pushing diet medications more than ever.

[nitasee]

But, it also means that doctors may start pushing diet medications more than ever.

Bingo! We have a winner here! I sense this is the real reason for recognizing obesity as a disease. It just makes cent$!

Seriously, I really do think that's a big reason behind the change. There's money to be made. And they don't even have to invent a disease to cure, they can just call it a disease and play upon the concerns and especially7 insecurities that so many people have - am I too fat? I especially see the pharmaceutical industry playing on the insecurities of young women - the very people who are pressed the most in culture about how mush they weigh.

If you ever want to know more about the cynical and mercenary methods of the pharma industry, I highly recommend reading Pills-A-Go-Go. It's a bit dated, but the same schemes are still being used.

[kaelstra]

This is exactly why. It's just yet another way our society can basically sell us weight-loss.

[gambitia]

Some have pointed out that perhaps this would increase access to parks, gyms, and other safe exercise places, and pressure the government to provide better access to whole foods.

The problem I have with this view is that these are good things we ought to be doing regardless of our nation's weight. I'm also worried that, when such programs failed to produce any weight loss (spoiler alert: they won't), they will be discontinued.

The main reason I can't get onboard with Michelle Obama's obesity campaign (or any similar health campaign) is its focus on obesity. Making sure kids have adequate time to play? Great! Promoting fresh food, including gardens, farmers' markets, and the like? Great! Doing all of these things because kids today are perceived as way too fat? Not okay. These are things that should be done because kids having enough time to play is a good thing, full stop. People having access to sufficient fresh, nutritious food is a good thing, full stop. These things should be done because they are intrinsically good

[crossfire]

They also say that “medicalizing” obesity by declaring it a disease would define one-third of Americans as being ill and could lead to more reliance on costly drugs and surgery rather than lifestyle changes. Some people might be overtreated because their B.M.I. was above a line designating them as having a disease, even though they were healthy.

Oh, I'm not even worried about that. Medicalizing obesity won't lead to overtreating people, it will lead to undertreating them because all of the sudden the magic bullet for everything wrong with fat people will be "loose weight." Fat people, you see, don't need real medical treatment, because all they have to do is loose weight and all of their problems, from arthritis to yeast infections, will go away. Eat less, exercise more, It's Just That Simple! And if it isn't working, you're just not trying hard enough!

And don't even get me started on the classism that's going to just come roaring out of this. Don't EVEN.

Fuck that. Fuck this. And fuck the AMA.

[sesmo]

Oh, overtreating will happen. Because despite the fact that study after study shows that it's not the weight it's the "metabolic indicators" that show whether you are healthy or not, it's now all about the weight.