Obesity a disease?

Who is really obese and when does it matter? This is Dr. Steven Andrew Davis, Speaking of Health. So many problems befall the obese person that it’s no wonder it’s been called a disease. High blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, bone and joint complications – all these and more affect overweight people much more often than they do those within the normal range. But some scientists take issue with the description of obesity as a disease. One of them, Dr. Glenn Gaesser from the University of Virginia, says that about a quarter of those people considered obese by typical public health standards – that is, they have a body mass index over 30 – don’t have health problems from it. He’s concerned patients and doctors are getting too concerned about absolute weight and potentially ignoring the lifestyles that can make people heavy.

And there are important differences among people the same size. How is the weight distributed? Is that person overweight but in good shape otherwise, exercising, not smoking, getting check-ups? What about thin people who don’t exercise or who smoke or who don’t know that their blood pressure is increased? Not being overweight they are not automatically called “diseased”, but may be more at risk than some in that overweight category.

Clearly, America is bursting with the ravages of mass obesity; but understanding of the true risk for the overweight and thin alike comes one person at a time. For a copy of this script and the reference, access our web site, www.speakingofhealth.com. Speaking of Health, I’m Dr. Steven Andrew Davis, for CBS News.

Ref: Skin & Allergy News. March 2004. Pg. 14.