Treat Obesity like a Disease - it is one

[kellykatt]

Ok, so obesity is actually an official disease now and doctors are being told that they have to treat it like it is any other disease. So if you have a heart attack they give you surgery, if you have a rash they give you cream, and if you have obesity they give you a diet.

So when you are obese or if you are on your way to being obese, you should think of your diet the same way that you would think of a medicine that has been prescribed to you or a stretch that you would need to do if you were in physio.

Don’t think about it as something that you need to do just because you are choosing to. You are actually dieting as a treatment for an illness. That really put things in perspective for me and hopefully it will for you, too!

[tracy1976]

I agree that you should treat it as a disease. I find that if I am told to do something by my doctor because of an illness, I'll do it. I don't know why it takes so much more effort to do something when it doesn't feel like it's "prescribed". Thank you for this suggestion, though. I'm going to give it a try!

[Kyra]

Obesity is scary because we're treating it like it's something cosmetic. It's true that we can be big and beautiful, but we can't be big and healthy!

[antoniojones1968]

I'm glad that the medical community is starting to see obesity for the dangerous condition that it really is. It is something that can lead to problems in many areas from heart disease to cancer and even dementia and diabetes. It's about time.

[madscientist]

You should really treat any health problem in the same way. It's true that there are some that are more serious than others, but if you just think of your overall health as a single effort then you will be able to dedicate yourself to it more fully and successfully.

Obesity is absolutely a health problem and it is an illness. So is being underweight. Your weight is a very central part of your overall health and if you don't manage it properly you'll have the same severity of problems that you would have if you let any other medical issue fester and get worse. You may not be able to see all of the problems on the outside, but there are definitely symptoms.

[bhollytba]

I was recently reading an article that was discussing the medical community's lack of involvement in weight loss. The article was calling for medical aid, stating that billions of dollars are spent every year treating obesity-related problems but not obesity itself.

I don't think there should necessarily be a pill cure for everything, but so many people are suffering! A little medical aid would go a long way for many people, especially people who are trying so hard already.

I just think it would be nice if the medical community quit treating weight as a strictly self-control issue. It would also be nice if society stopped treating it as a cosmetic issue, as was stated. It is a disease, unfortunately.