Is obesity a choice or is it a disease?
Obesity is a choice?
Obesity is an epidemic in the United States in particular. Adult obesity and child obesity are different. I do not think anyone can argue that children choose to be obese because children do not choose what to eat and are too young to count calories (unless parents get in the habit of teaching this). Adults on the other hand become obese because of food addiction which is leading to the question of whether obesity is a disease? Alcoholism is considered a disease for example and people get treated for it. Is food addiction logically different?
On the other hand people who have been obese but who have lost weight might have conquered their addiction and may reach the conclusion that their obesity was a choice. This is particularly true for people who go up and down in weight where maybe they do have the will power and discipline to overcome their food addiction but have periods where they simply want to enjoy food so they choose not to. On the other hand a person who has never been obese really has limited understand of the psychology of food addiction so can that kind of person really say if it's a choice or a disease?
People who insist that obesity is a choice push the concept of "weight responsibility". They insist that it is not a disease or not an illness. This has political ramifications because if an obese person is getting disability then would they still receive it if it is a lifestyle choice? On the other hand if it is a disease then the case is entirely different.
Whether or not you think Obesity is a choice there is a lot you can do about it if you have this problem. If you've been obese before and you've lost weight then you know the two major components are accurate scientifically collected knowledge and discipline to follow a plan of action. Knowledge includes knowing what to measure and how to measure it. Knowledge includes understanding how the metabolism works (knowing about liver glycogen stores, gluconeogenesis, glycemic index, insulin, AMPK, and hypertrophy). Knowledge includes knowing your own body by taking precise measurements of yourself at different times to track progress. Finally knowledge includes knowing what you consume and what impact it has on your progress.
Tactics to use against obesity
- Calorie restriction
- VLCD (very low calorie diet requires medical supervision)
- Intermittent fasting (requires medical supervision)
- Resistance training w/ progressive overload
- Steady state cardio or HIIT (walking, or wind sprints).
These are ranked by effectiveness. Calorie restriction which means to eat at a caloric deficit for a long period of time has a 100% success rate. If you follow that then you must lose weight because the law of physics says so. Less energy in means the body must use stored energy to maintain. The amount of calories the body requires to maintain is set genetically by BMR or RMR. Basal metabolic rate or resting metabolic rate can be measured scientifically using indirect calorimetry.
If you start with just knowing your own body well enough to know how many calories you tend to use at different activity levels (at rest, or on a more active day) then you can plan your calorie budget around your current lifestyle. If you're laying around in bed all day you may only burn 200 calories or so above your resting metabolic rate but if you have a day where you go for a walk or you go up and down a few flights of stairs you could burn 300-400 calories above your resting metabolic rate. The point being that you have to consume food as fuel with the understanding that you always want to burn off more than you intake for the day.
Hi sir I think obesity is a global problem although it's worst in US but it's also a big problem for the world.
A lot of things responsible for this epidemic most of them you covered it can be cured and avoided by proper routine of exercise and controlled diet plan with desciplined eating can be better.
For the case of children it's our full responsibility and we are the culprit if it's not due to thyroid or any hormonal imbalance.
Nice article sir.
Obesity is by choice. One can study and plan their calorie intake to avoid this state.
You have recieved a free upvote from minnowpond, Send 0.1 -> 2 SBD with your post url as the memo to recieve an upvote from up to 100 accounts!
This post has received a 28.18 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @dana-edwards.
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
One must avoid the state of obesity.. useful information. Following you to stay tuned for more..:-)
I am 5 feet 10 inches tall and weigh in at around 200 pounds, I am certainly over weight but I don't know if I qualify as obese. I eat whatever I want and as much as I can, but I always am careful not to fill up my stomach completely, experience has taught me that you just end up having a bad time if you do that. But I am OK with how I am, overweight by a small margin, a relatively small pot belly, so I guess I am like I am because it is my choice.
But I do take care of walking at least 4-5 miles every day. I think that is what keeps my weight constant.
Than you for giving such a good health knowledge.Nice thinking...
carry on...
great @healthtips
the decision isn't logical. but a combination of how a person feels about themselves and what they think is going on here. often folks eat for comfort... is that a choice or a reaction?
so while obesity is a choice in all outward logical respects, it is overridden by the emotional side that is using food to fill a hole.
if you don't fill the hole with food, some do it with work, some do it with exercise ... some do it with spirituality (the best way?)
I've had bad habits before and know people sometimes develop bad habits with food. I can empathize with people who eat for comfort. The truth is that is an eating disorder.
But it may also be a choice. People choose food as the outlet but there could be other possible outlets.
the cause, in my mind is the lack of connection to source.. the outlet for the filling the void is food, sex, drugs, entertainment.. etc.
reconnecting to source is a processes of being still and silent.... access that part of you that is not the mind, that part that can observe the mind. it doesn't talk, it just is... when you go there and do it consistently, the unconscious thoughts come out.
i've also noticed that doing this creates a 'gap' in my mind between thoughts and actions. meaning i hear a loud noise it doesn't make me jump, I just hear it and decide if I need to do anything in relation to it.
anyway, long way of saying that choosing another outlet to cover it up isn't the answer, get rid of it all together by reconnecting with the source inside of you which is actually the responsible for the feeling of lack.
Obesity is absolutely a choice for most people.
I’m originally from Canada. There’s a lot of obese people there.
I then moved to Australia, only to see a lot of obese people again.
Having travelled to Nepal for 5 weeks, an obese person stuck out like a sore thumb.
You actually felt sorry for them because I believe it wasn’t their choice actually.
Then I went to China. Hardly any obese people.
Notice how I’m using the word obese instead of the ‘f’ word.
I don’t want to get shot.
Now living in Indonesia for over a year, it’s mostly the tourists that are obese and once in a while you’ll see an obese Indonesian, which is strange to see.
I’ve been to Singapore and Malaysia.
In Singapore people aren’t that obese, but Malaysia being more developed than Bali Indonesia, I found a lot more obese people in Malaysia.
So when people back in Canada use the crutch of it’s a disease or it’s not my fault.
I just roll my eyes and think, are you sure it’s not your shopping cart full of junk?