In talking about obesity, it is very controversial if it should be considered a choice, or a disease. In June of 2013, The American Medical Association (AMA) labeled obesity as a disease, rather than just a risk factor for many other diseases. Although I agree with the AMA that obesity is a disease, many people think otherwise. In the opinion piece from the Chicago Tribune, Obesity a choice, not a disease, Oren Spiegler discusses how we as Americans choose to be obese and that labeling it a disease is just an excuse.

According to Spiegler, calling obesity a disease is a big mistake on the AMA’s part. All that it will do is “provide an excuse for those who have the ability to control their weight, but elect not to do so”. Obesity is a result of the way in which we choose to live our lives. With portions being larger and unhealthy food being not only readily available but also thrown in our faces by television and ads, we have a tendency to eat them more and more and spend less time eating healthy, home cooked meals. Our bodies were also designed to be active, but in today’s society the norm is “sitting in front of some type of screen rather than engaging in vigorous aerobic outdoor activity”. Diseases are classified as something that is contracted “through no fault of the sufferer”. With obesity that is not the case.

I do agree with Spiegler in the fact that we do have some fault in obesity regarding our food choices and sedentary lifestyles. If we took more time to educate ourselves on healthy eating or just got off the coach once in a while to do some activity, the obesity epidemic might not be as bad. However, I do not agree that it is 100% the fault of the people. Genetics definitely play a part in certain peoples struggles with weight. The food industry also plays a big role in obesity. They make and brand food as “healthy” or “low-fat”, when in reality that food is just as bad if not worse for you because it makes up for its low category by being WAY too high in other. Now you might think the food industry are people so yes, obesity is a choice. But if people are buying these “low-fat” foods, they are choosing to try and be healthier, not dive further into obesity.

I do recognize that once people become obese they might just deal with and not do anything to try and change it, but that does not mean that the act of becoming obese was a choice. With the size of obesity and the predicted growth there is no way it can be just a choice. Why would so many people choose to live their lives so miserably, opening up the door to so many other diseases as well as early death? In my opinion, they wouldn’t.

With all of the research done on obesity thus far, if the AMA is going to label it as a disease, I think it is only right to agree with them. They are the experts and they know best so instead of trying to argue that it is actually a choice, we should accept their decision and continue trying to find ways to prevent and eliminate obesity.

Throughout the years obesity has been an ongoing and growing problem in America. Although we are no longer the most obese country in the world, we come in at number 2 with 31.8% of our population being classified as obese (Gawker). Why, are we as a nation so obese? What are we doing wrong, and what can we do to fix this?

First we must ask ourselves though, what is obesity? Obesity is defined as an adult whose body mass index (BMI) is 30 or higher (Center For Disease Control and Prevention). However, it is important to know that BMI correlates with the amount of body fat, it does not directly measure it. Because of this people such as athletes can be labeled overweight or obese when they do not actually have excessive body fat (CDC).

To try and understand this as well as many other problems leading to and caused by obesity I will begin to research this for my exploratory blog project. I am interested in learning more about obesity because I would like to become a health science major, and obesity is obviously a major health concern for our country. Obesity also ties into a few of my classes so I will be able to learn more and new information about it that I am unable to find through my own research. With obesity constantly growing along with efforts to try and stop/prevent it, there is so much information to be found.

To understand obesity and to be able to find ways to reduce it, we first need to know what causes it. Unhealthy eating and exercise habits obviously play a big role, but that is not the case for everyone. For some people is it hereditary? Or maybe it was caused by some kind of disease they developed. There are many factors that can influence obesity which is why it is so hard to try and prevent it. Throughout my blogs I will be exploring all the different ways.

When talking about obesity, most people just focus on children and adults. But what about the elderly? Obesity has been on the rise for them as well. However, in the case of the elderly it is much more controversial than with younger people. For certain older adults, there is a reduction in relative health risks associated with increasing BMI. Elderly weight loss can also have harmful effects on muscle and bone mass (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).

There is so much to be learned in studying about obesity, with cause and prevention being only the beginning. With all of the information out there I am excited to start learning about all of the different aspects and finally have a true understanding of obesity.

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