Weighty problem

Obesity has a new name — disease.
Krystle Wagner
Jul 8, 2013


The American Medical Association recently adopted a new policy labeling obesity as a disease, which requires medical interventions to advance obesity treatment and prevention.

“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” said Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the American Medical Association Board.

Michelle Bailey, the fitness and program director for the Tri-Cities Family YMCA, said some people take issue with the recent change because it’s based on body mass index (BMI), which factors in a person’s weight and height as indicators for a person’s body fat content.

“Sometimes that doesn’t tell the whole story,” she said.

The body mass index considers adults with a calculated body mass and height of less than 18.5 as underweight, 18.5 to 24.9 as normal weight and 25 to 29.9 as overweight. A BMI of more than 30 is considered obese.

Bailey said a body composition test would be a better indicator of a person’s mass, as it takes muscles into account.

Ottawa County Public Health epidemiologist Marcia Knol said body mass index is a screening tool, not a diagnostic finality. She said the presence of obesity is associated with the presence of other things such as chronic disease and some other socioeconomic indicators.

“There is not an established cause-and-effect relationship between obesity and mortality, or obesity and some chronic diseases,” she said.


The Associated Press contributed to this story.



Following the money. This is just more of what to expect when people abdicate their responsiblity and becoming wards of the nanny state. Politicians feed off the power derived from "taking care" of the disease! http://m.townhall.com/columnists...

deuce liti

You can't honestly be worried that your taxes will slightly increase to help your less-fortunate fellow human?

Our disgusting country gives a billion and a half of your dollars to the egyptian military and you're worried that someone's insurance may cover treatments to help them lose weight and potentially become more productive citizens?

I'm happy to know that you're not a Christian because we believe in treating people with love and as we would want to be treated.

You can certaintly judge a country by how it treats it's poorest citizens.


Maybe this helps you understand Egyptian aid: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_...
Why is our Pres confused on how to react. He has backed the wrong horse at every step in foreign affairs.http://news.investors.com/ibd-ed...

At least he is focus properly here in the homeland. Be sure to pay attention to the video too....we wait for that justice he speaks of regarding Libya. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hol...

Tri-cities realist

I can't speak for Wing, but I can for myself. I am absolutely against my taxes (or insurance rates) going up because someone makes poor choices and is obese. Hopefully insurance companies will treat obese people the same way they treat smokers. If you consume more of a product (health care), you should pay higher premiums.

And I'm all for helping our less fortunate fellow humans, I choose to do it through VOLUNTARY giving, rather than having the govt confiscate it through taxes.

I'm not sure how Egypt fits into this, but for the record, I'm against giving them money too. Although I'm somewhat surprised that your socialist tendencies don't apply to the Egyptian Military, they need money too, right?


The poor are poor for a variety of reasons. The primary reason is lack of educational and vocational skills. Realistic job training is an important part of combating poverty. Many of the poor suffer from issues ranging to poor life skills to deep psychological trauma. The life skills areas are often things that can be fixed at community level. There are some poor who suffer from severe mental illness. 

And yes I do judge this country on how it treats its poor. Seems your better off poor in this country then most other places in the world. http://m.townhall.com/tipsheet/g...

I do agree we should not be giving American tax dollars to the Egyptian military equaling to about 70% of its budget. But then again I have not seen anything done about that in the last 4 1/2 ....have you?

Now back to the topic deu liti.


What are your thoughts on this, Wing?....http://www.salon.com/2012/12/06/...


Sweet, now we get to play where are they now:

and my favorite:

These musicians and actors all say stupid shat. We can play this game all day! What do you think I would say?

Maybe we should have a litmus test for our candidates!!

.....a heartbeat away from the Presidency, God help us!


I had a bunch of weird Republican quotes to send you, but decided it was just too depressing, so will leave you with this....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

Have a productive day, free of disease, and hold off on the biggie fries..


The American Medical Association recently adopted a new policy labeling obesity as a disease, that's just great, now people will be able to collect disability for being fat, another welfare program for im concerned, being over weight is a chronic problem here in the us


Yes, being fat is a disease now, you know…because it takes work to lose weight, which in turn is why fat people can’t lose weight, which is why it’s a ‘disease’ now. Fat people should be taxed more because they suck up more resources and are less productive. America…the world’s enabler


Easy truth don't think we need to punish them for being fat, I just don't want to pay for it when in many cases it is the persons fault or lack of control that is the cause.

You are what you eat, which confuses me because I like ribs!!


I had you pegged as a wing guy.
We do like our food, maybe a tad too much. The shows on TV about food, the morning shows, fast food- super size me means exactly that now.
#1. Portion size #2. Portion size #3. Portion size #4. getting off the couch to walk around the block. Lost 70 pounds that way.
Do you know a portion size of meat is the size of a deck of cards?


A deck of cards!! The gives "not playing with a full deck" a whole new meaning!

Congrats on losing the 70lbs...guess that means your cured of the disease!


Doctors are pill pushers. This just gives them and the drug companies another excuse to control the population. I agree, it is all about money but also control. Unfortunately people can take control of their lives, but choose not to. So we call it a disease, and then we can 'treat' it. Believe me, not all fat people are on welfare, some are poor, some are the disappearing middle class, and some are filthy rich and have no problem feeding their addiction (does this disease come next?) to food.


thats great! any change takes hard work and dedication. Way to get it done! I am critical of people looking for an excuse/hand out.


Sounds like you aren't nearly as big a deal as you used to be; good job!


i talked with my doctor about this situation, people being overweight, i would think if they are on Medicaid and disability they should have a program thru the doctor to help them get healthy and she said the state or federal government can not impose social medicine, so why is that if you work and have insurance, they urge you to get healthy, lose wieght and stop smoking or pay the price, good question

Tri-cities realist

Next up will be to consider obesity a disability, then the full weight of the ADA will apply, mark my words. I know how liberals think.... err feel. And before someone tells me how insensitive I am, and that SOME people can't help how much they weigh, I have 2 words for you... Biggest Loser. If the people on that show can lose that much weight, then 99.9% of our population can, if they would get off their fat lazy butts. I'll grant that there is probably somewhere in the range of 0.1% of the population that is physically incapable of losing weight, but we don't need to re-classify obesity for the other 99.9%. Others here are correct, it IS about control and money.


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