Obesity: A Social Problem Not a Disease
Nikki Buck
Mrs. Bala
English 124
29 June 2014
Obesity: A Social Problem Not Disease He clutched his glass of milk a little tighter as a sudden pain shot up the 65 year old man’s arm. He knew instantly something was wrong as this was unlike his usual aches and pains that present themselves with old age and the result of a youthful life style. Rapidly his breathing became more difficult and he grabbed at his chest in response to a knifed like feeling. My uncle had been classified as “obese” for most of his life, deemed unable to shed the extra pounds. After the shock of his heart attack several years ago, only home grown vegetables and organic whole foods made it on our dinner table. Six months post his heart attack and radical change in diet my uncle lost 50 pounds, with another 75 pounds to go in the following year. My uncle had the ability to burn off the excessive fat his entire life, but bad life style habits and doctors calling his condition a “disease” created high hurdles for him to jump over on his path to being healthy. Obesity should not be classified as a disease because it discourages people from improving themselves, burdens the economy with expensive treatments and surgeries, and contradicts the scientific process of fat storage in the human body. When considering the terms obesity and disease, there are clear differences in the social and formal definitions. The dictionary definition of Obesity is the condition of excess fat that gives a person a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over, and the definition of disease is any illness or abnormal condition of the body with a specific cause that has recognizable signs and symptoms (Oxford Reference). The average person does not know their own BMI let alone the BMI of others, therefore in a social context, obesity is thought as having excess body fat that may lead to medical problems down the line. Also, culturally a disease is assumed to be something caused by infection that often is contagious
Mrs. Bala
English 124
29 June 2014
Obesity: A Social Problem Not Disease He clutched his glass of milk a little tighter as a sudden pain shot up the 65 year old man’s arm. He knew instantly something was wrong as this was unlike his usual aches and pains that present themselves with old age and the result of a youthful life style. Rapidly his breathing became more difficult and he grabbed at his chest in response to a knifed like feeling. My uncle had been classified as “obese” for most of his life, deemed unable to shed the extra pounds. After the shock of his heart attack several years ago, only home grown vegetables and organic whole foods made it on our dinner table. Six months post his heart attack and radical change in diet my uncle lost 50 pounds, with another 75 pounds to go in the following year. My uncle had the ability to burn off the excessive fat his entire life, but bad life style habits and doctors calling his condition a “disease” created high hurdles for him to jump over on his path to being healthy. Obesity should not be classified as a disease because it discourages people from improving themselves, burdens the economy with expensive treatments and surgeries, and contradicts the scientific process of fat storage in the human body. When considering the terms obesity and disease, there are clear differences in the social and formal definitions. The dictionary definition of Obesity is the condition of excess fat that gives a person a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over, and the definition of disease is any illness or abnormal condition of the body with a specific cause that has recognizable signs and symptoms (Oxford Reference). The average person does not know their own BMI let alone the BMI of others, therefore in a social context, obesity is thought as having excess body fat that may lead to medical problems down the line. Also, culturally a disease is assumed to be something caused by infection that often is contagious
Cited: Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 26CFR1.213-1. www.irs.gov. 2002. Web. 28 June 2014. Obesity and Overweight