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by nobody9999 1607 days ago
>Obesity is a complicated disease that manifests through a variety of biological, behavioral, and environmental factors.

Obesity is not a disease. It is a condition defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of >30[0].

Yes, there are a variety of factors that contribute to a BMI >30, but like "tobacco use disorder," it's emphatically not a disease. Some obesity may be related to actual diseases, but obesity in itself isn't a disease.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html

2 comments

It wasn't my goal to argue nomenclature, but a disease is: "a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury." or "a particular quality, habit, or disposition regarded as adversely affecting a person or group of people." (Oxford Languages) By this definition it makes sense to me to call obesity a disease. For what it's worth, I was trying to convey that obesity is far more complicated than many consider - the official definition may imply that you can just "lower BMI" and solve the problem. I also see immense value in understanding obesity as a disease in order to de-stigmatize it - you wouldn't tell someone with high blood pressure to "just relax", or imply they aren't trying hard enough to cure it - which is what a lot of the public stigma around weight related disease is effectively doing. Also, BMI when combined with waist circumference can help to correct issues with BMI to better understand your individual risk: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/in-de... https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/how-to-measure-your-wai...
FYI, clicking on another page from your link states obesity is a ”serious chronic disease”. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/about-obesity/index.html