http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/fitness/treat-obesity-like-the-disease-cancer-say-experts/story-fneuzle5-1226742615369

So, a group in australia is currently trying to have obesity classified as a disease so that personal trainers, liposuction etc. can be subsidized by medicare.

I personally do not think obesity is anything more than a lifestyle disorder, and in some cases caused by mental health/glandular issues (in the case of mental health/glandular, then by all means weight loss should be subsidised as part of the treatment for that mental disorder).

I am unsure if every person of over a certain weight should have their weight loss paid for, then again I myself do not suffer from weight issues and am unqualified to speak from that perspective.

I'm having a hard time replying to this post since my keyboard is smeared with a rich layer of big mac sauce. The government had better be ready to buy me a new keyboard!!

actual response, the government would be better off subsidizing healthy food than trainers and surgeries. People get fat 'cause it's cheap to be fat.

Obesity is a huge tax on the economy*, if it helps reduce obesity, it'll overall have a very positive effect on the economy.

*Obesity causes huge amounts of other health-related problems that are covered by medical insurance that is currently being paid for without addressing the real issue (obesity). It also causes a significant loss in employee productivity.

The world would be a better place with less fatness. It's not a disease, unless you have biological issues. It's called overindulging and being lazy. I guess it'd be more of a personality disorder than anything.

I can agree with that as long as it isn't just weight loss being paid for, but also teaching the skills required to keep the weight off.

Step 1: resist urge to eat big macs

Step 2: ...

It's not a disease, it's a willpower/laziness thing most of the time. Yeah different body shapes different metabolisms blah blah blah. Not really.

But if they can mitigate the effect of obesity on society I probably won't complain.

While I'm not fat, I could afford to lose a few pounds. If you are fat, that's fine, but when you've never been to a doctor but call your eating fast food in excess, drinking sugar rich drinks and fatty snacks or unhealthy foods and have the balls to say 'Oh, I can't help it, it's glandular!', I don't have much compassion for you being fat. There are issues like one girl I'd read who would bloat up because of some disorder she had, but these people who roll around Wal-Mart in their carts are fat for just that reason. Being fat is just as much a lifestyle choice as a gym goer. The fat build up is from a lack of movement and general exercise/activity. You're chubby or fat? That's cool, but the people who are so in denial their lifestyle choice isn't healthy they make the excuse 'it's a condition' rile be me up. Unless you have a bonafide confirmation your weight is, in fact, out of your control and not directly related to your lifestyle and dietary habits you should not be getting government aid for your health care. I'd be down for a government weight loss program, but if you just want to sit on your rear and take in the government dime while making excuses for your choice to be overweight is just outright pathetic.

Like I said, I've nothing against anyone overweight, I myself am sort of stocky. However, if you're going to be overweight, at least be honest and admit 'I'm fat because I love to eat' or 'I'm fat because I just don't like activity'. That honesty is a hell of a lot more respectable than 'I..uh...I eat this pizza hut and box of ding dongs because...you see...it's uh....it's glandular.' (Again, I am not saying glandular problems don't exist, but you can tell who the real ones are IRL and who the BSers are.)

It's the dreaded food to mouth to disease that's contagious at McDonalds

seriously though, if you make yourself so fat that you can't function then it shouldn't be the tax payers responsibility.

nice

You're already paying for their fatness in numerous ways. Might as well pay to make them skinny and save in the long run.

Medical intervention won't help you save money. The cheapest intervention is primary prevention through patient education.

Pay x to make skinny. Productivity goes up y, increasing GDP. Increase in GDP over time will cover cost of x. After that, net positive income.

Sorry, you're wrong.

Facts for the US:

300k lives lost each year due to weight-related complications (diabetes, heart disease, hypertension all have strong relationships to obesity among many other diseases).

$147 billion in private and public healthcare for obesity management and related conditions.

Net $73 billion estimated to be lost each year from GDP due to productivity lost from the obese workforce.

$50 billion a year in privately-spent non-medical money on weight loss.

unknown fuel wasted in gasoline and jet fuel due to added weight by human fat.

source: Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition Concepts & Controversies (13th ed.). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

Of course, but that's already being done, but it's not doing enough when people drive everywhere instead of biking/walking and eat fast food.

From a scientific perspective I don't think it's particularly accurate to classify obesity in general as a disease. There are various medical conditions that can cause or contribute to obesity, but those are each their own conditions or disease and should be treated as such.

However, from a healthcare and treatment perspective I think it makes a lot of sense to cover treatment for obesity (provided it's done in a medically sound manner). This is because there are a tremendous number of diseases and conditions that co-morbid with obesity, and thus addressing obesity itself as early as possible can greatly decease the overall healthcare costs over a patient's life by preventing these other conditions from ever manifesting.

Simplistic. Medical interventions don't solve problems. A lot of times, they create more. A person who undergoes weight loss reduction surgery can mean a lot. Medication errors, surgical errors, risk for acquired infection, post-surgical complications, patient education, diabetes management, rehabilitation, cost of supplies, etc. Government will not pay for that (and government and insurance services will only pay a flat fee for services anyway).

The problem with this reasoning is that surgery is always an action of last resort regardless of the condition. The first thing done for obese wouldn't be cutting the fat out or tying up the stomach.

It's not a disease in my eyes it's a way of life foolish people follow. I know because I use to be 300 pounds I'm 5'9 I was a circle. I lost 125 pounds in two years. Here's a problem, I get its medical because I don't get full, chemical imbalance or something. I have to mentally eat less.

The problem is, as someone said, it's cheaper to eat unhealthy than to do the opposite. At McDonalds, you can buy your family a full meal for around 10/14 dollars. To do the same thing with healthy food would likely double or, in some cases, triple that cost. For one meal.

That's part of the problem, anyways. Another problem is just lack of self control. Some people will binge due to emotional problems, or just eat whenever they feel the slightest bit hungry.

I feel that if food laws were improved, and more people learned how to be self-condident, fat assery would be much less common.

They say that Houston is the fattest city in America. From what I remember, Texas is a place where one can easily lose self-confidence if they haven't developed thick skin as of yet.

No, and I addressed that. Government goals always address the issue of obesity as a huge risk factor for expensive chronic conditions. But, medical suggestions always start with conservative management. That's why patient education is essential, because it involves behavioral modification. People are constantly researching the motivations and resistance to weight loss because it costs the system money. But, behavior is complex. You can't tell someone that he should lose weight when he has no support system to tell him such. Judgments I'm reading in this thread about laziness really doesn't help this national issue.

It's only cheaper to eat unhealthy when looking in the short-term. In the long-run eating home-made and healthy meals is far cheaper.

And likewise you cannot force someone to get treatment. It's basically an effort to subsidize treatment, but it's still only works for those that enter.

I think it's a combination of lifestyle, habits, medical issues, heredity, and finally, our culture.

There's certainly people who are just fat because they don't exercise, eat too much, or both. But the bigger problem in America at least, is our culture's addiction to soda, and other high carb, and high fructose corn syrup containing foods. And that's practically everything. Another thing is this economy's svck. You want to avoid those foods, you want to stop going to the fast food joint, be prepared to pay up some good cash. Unfortunately, cheap food is fattening food now, and very easily accessible everywhere.

There's also the problem that big food chain joints like Mc Donalds controls pretty much how the food that even the grocery stores sell is made, because they buy up so much of it, and the buyers instead of producing it differently find it easier to make it the same for everyone.

So that's where the problem lies mainly in my opinion. But for most people, I wouldn't say it's enough to start covering training in medicare. That's quite absurd. I don't see america's obesity problem improving itself for a long long time, if ever because of the cultural and economical factors. That sort of thing just fluctuates as of now, but it's not going to change unless people put more effort into wanting it to change. That also unfortunately means more gov involvement.

Treatment means adherence, which is associated with patient education. You can't force someone to do anything at all if they don't have any motivation or the means to make lasting changes.

FYI, Medicare in the first post may not mean America's Medicare system. Medicare already covers obesity screenings and counseling, but you have to be eligible to be covered.

Oh I know, at least as far as this referring to America. I think it would be absurd anywhere. But I had no idea we actually covered that... if they can actually prove it's due to some disease, then that's one thing though.

Unless I'm missing something, that's what I said.

Give them a BMI based tax? The higher your BMI, the higher te tax you pay. Going to macdonalds for every meal won't be as cheap anymore in the long run.
IT is not a disease on itself. Like a lot of people said IT just a way of life. I used to be fat and near obese. And I admit IT was my own fault! I love eating and didn't exercise back then. I still love eating but now I do a lot of sports. I could still loose some pounds if I'd really want to have a ripped body and all that but I'm happy with my body now.

I'm not talking about being onese due to medical problems and stuff