Home
>
Weight Loss
>
Is Obesity a Disease? And What Should Be Done About It?

Is Obesity a Disease? And What Should Be Done About It?

You have noticed your obese friend suddenly slimmer. You want to know what she's doing, but you don't want surgery or side effects.

My Miami patient Marcia weighed 303 pounds. She noticed newly trim, formerly 325 pound Kim walking the golf course, and asked her how she'd lost weight. Marcia now weighs 190, has quit smoking and a year later, has gained control.

Labeling Marcia and Kim as diseased only makes them victims, and medicalizes their problems. Deciding obesity is a disease stigmatizes the obese, as if they didn't feel enough unwanted attention already.

The "disease" label is about money, not health. It's about getting insurers, including Medicare, to pay for remedies. It's about creating a so-called "fat tax." It's about tariffs on fast food sales and food production. And it's about promoting expensive lifestyle drugs, still being tested. Many doctors do not recommend any obesity drugs, and are worried about their side effects.

Some people think that fat is in their genes. And genes are everything-for infants. For people over age 50, however, 80% of your health is your choices. What you eat changes the proteins your genes make, and help your body protect itself against actual diseases to which you're susceptible, such as heart disease and cancer. Knowing what's in what you eat and finding nutrient-rich, calorie-lean food are personal responsibilities.

The science of obesity is new. Olympian Maurice Greene (5'9" 176#) is overweight, because his Body Mass Index is over 25 kg/m2. Although muscle weighs more than fat, he would be labeled "overweight": an insurance risk. Lenders, employers and insurers may use that diagnosis against you unfairly. Weight distribution and body fat-not pounds alone--should be measured before labeling people.

Neither Marcia nor Kim thought they had a disease when they came to see me. They felt well. Actually, very few obese patients feel ill. Yet they have-and now control-high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoarthritis. They do it with their personal choices, including individualized diets, self-monitoring, accountability, and structured, step-by-step fitness.

Understanding the risk of overweight comes one person at a time. Obesity is not a disease of deranged genes, willpower or pseudoscience. Obesity is a problem of planning. That's what my patients Marcia and Kim needed. You need a plan-not a label--to succeed.

John La Puma M.D. is co-author of the NY Times bestselling RealAge Diet and Cooking the RealAge Way, with Dr. Michael Roizen. His published recipes are online, and he is Medical Director of CHEF Clinic (http://www.drjohnlapuma.com), a unique, referral-based, nutrition-only national medical practice with patients nationwide who want to lose weight no matter what it takes. He is also an Executive Member at Costco.

detailed home cleaning Park Ridge ..

In The News:

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

Is Obesity a Disease? And What Should Be Done About It?

Weight Loss