Is Obesity a Disease or an Epidemic ?
Before the mid-twentieth century, obesity and fatness were considered a simple physical trait, a natural variation of weight over time. At the end of World War II, the emphasis our society has put on physical perfection, performance, fitness, discipline and dietary restrictions of any kind has ensured that being overweight has become not only a moral problem — do you have adopted or not THE appropriate lifestyle — but a disease. As a result, obesity has landed in the medical field and has become an epidemic.
(This translation of my original post in french is not the best one. So, be indulgent !)
In fact, I think obesity is a social construction; nobody ever dies of obesity. Of course, you can die from cancer, pneumonia, virus, bacteria, but not of obesity. By cons, you can die of some deleterious effects associated to obesity : hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, etc. But it is not necessary to be obese to die of those deleterious effects. A person who is not overweight may suffer from one of those problems or a combination thereof. Moreover, to say obesity is a disease automatically suggests that each person who is overweight or obese will inevitably suffer from hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, etc. This is partly true. There are people who are overweight and don’t suffer from hypertension or diabetes. Thus, by declaring obesity a disease or an epidemic we open door to all kinds of treatments. It’s also interesting to note obesity treatments have a success rate 10% lower than cancer [1].
Maybe we must change our perspective. Maybe we must begin to see obesity as a civilization problem : socioeconomic status, recurring stress, precarious employment, educational attainment, etc. From this perspective obesity becomes a combination of biological and nonbiological issues. To “win” over obesity, perhaps should we adopt another point of view.
[1] Fraser Laura, Losing it — America’s Obsession with Weight and the Industry that Feeds on It, Radiance Winter, 1998.
© Pierre Fraser, 2011
