Denton 1 Kaison Denton English 1102-093 Connie Douglas March 20, 2014 The Issue of Obesity Obesity, being

the vast issue that it is in the United States, is a very controversial topic to many people. The American Medical Association(AMA) officially declared obesity to be a disease in 2013. This classification has no legal basis behind it, so there are many people that disagree, and others that agree. This issue is very controversial in the United States, and many different people have a voice in the argument. It is our constitutional right to have a voice in this argument, but not everyones voice can be heard. In order to make it more likely for a voice to be taken into consideration, voices are assembled into groups. The groups involved in the debate on obesity are ones; such as, the doctors who study obesity, the doctors that believes obesity should be a disease, the doctors that thinks it shouldnt be a disease, the obese people of the United States, the healthy citizens, and maybe even the insurance companies because of the effect of Healthcare. All of these voices pose great arguments, but the three that have the most information to back up their arguments are the voices of the doctors whom either agree or disagree with the classification and the insurance companies. These voices all have a very big impact on the medical community, mainly due to the fact that the classification of obesity as

Denton 2 a disease is not a legal classification and is not set in stone. Therefore these voices continue to pose arguments to rule the classification in their favor. The voice of the doctors, in my opinion, is the most important one to take into consideration. These men and women experience the issue of obesity everyday of their lives. They are the ones who truly understand the severity of this issue in our nation. They see how controversial this issue is. The viewpoints held by these doctors are divided between who thinks obesity is a disease and who does not. The voice of the doctors that agree with the classification pose a very confident argument. They say that obesity is a disease because it has effects on the people diagnosed that can lead to death, and if that isnt a disease, what is? Dr. Kopelman actually gives the definition of a disease to back up his argument, which is A condition of the body, its parts, organs or systems, or and alteration. (Kopelman, Reply: Is Obesity a Disease?). And he believes that obesity satisfies this definition. The majority of the doctors that disagree with the classification say that the definition of a disease is never really clear, but Kopelman gives the official definition, in turn, making his argument very strong. This group of doctors that agree with the classification agree with it due to their first hand experience with the disease and see the effects that it has on the persons diagnosed. On the other side of the spectrum, the doctors who disagree with the classification also pose a great argument, which is what makes this topic so controversial. As stated before, the majority of these doctors disagree due to the fact that there is not a clear definition to the word disease. The doctors who

Denton 3 understand the definition of a disease argue that obesity is merely a condition that could, if not treated, lead to diseases. Another great point made by Discovery News (DNews) is the inaccuracy of the BMI scale. DNews argues that the BMI scale regularly classifies healthy people as being overweight and unhealthy people with high levels of fat and insulin resistance as being at a healthy weight, which leads to inflated obesity statistics. They also state that the BMI scale cannot distinguish fat from muscle. For example, a very muscular individual weighs 250 pounds, while an obese individual who is the same height also weighs 250 pounds. The BMI scale does not distinguish fat from muscle, making it very inaccurate. The last but definitely not least important voice is the voice of the insurance companies, more specifically the Healthcare portion of insurance. The insurance companies have explained the effect that obesity being called a disease has on the Healthcare rates. HBODocs says on average, an obese person costs about $1,400 more to care for than someone who is not obese, and collectively, obesity costs about $150 billion per year. From this information, one can obviously tell that the insurance companies are against the classification due to the tremendous inflation of the rates of Healthcare. The insurance companies also believe that if it is classified a disease and does not change, then an obese person should pay more for Healthcare because they are more at risk than a healthy individual. This brings up even more controversy to the insurance companies, making it much easier on them if obesity is not classified a disease.

Denton 4 In conclusion to this round table discussion, it is apparent that there are multiple voices being considered in this issue. The voices of the doctors and insurance companies are, in my opinion, the most respected voices due to their area of expertise. This does not mean that the other voices do not have any input in these arguments. Obesity continues to be a growing problem in the United States and may continue to grow if we dont do something about it.

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Works Cited
HBODocs. Healthcare Costs Greatly Impacted by Obesity. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 14 May 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. Kopelman, P G; Finer. Reply: Is Obesity a Disease? N. International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders. Oct. 2001, Vol. 25 Issue 10, p1405. 2p. Web. 18 Mar. 2014 S Heshka. Is Obesity a Disease? New York Obesity Research Center. Oct. 2001. Web. 18 Mar. 2014