Billboard - Obesity is a disease.

I firmly believe that obesity is a disease; one which like many others can be afffected by lifestyle choices. Diseases like heart disease, GERD/acid reflux, and diabetes, are obvious but also gout, arthritis, kidney disease, gall bladder and kidney stones, urinary tract infections, all have a behavior component. What about sports injuries - if you have tennis elbow does it not count as a disease if it is because you play tennis? Should we deny somehting is a disease because the patients behavior is involved? Should we withhold or deny treatment until the patient fully 100% complies with the ever changing nutrition and exercise regimens? Would you deny someone a prescription to Zantac or Prilosec if they ate something spicy-ever?
My surgeon once said that no one would dare to tell heart patients that they have to have 6 months of doctor supervised diet and exercise before they can have surgery - because there would be a huge outcry. BUT insurance companies (mine included) routinely require this for WLS patients. I assure you that most heart disease patients would benefit from changing their diet and adding exercise but we don't deny them treatment or deny that they have a disease - why would we do that to someone who is obese?
I eat better today than I ever have - I exercise regularly for the first time in my life. My weight has been stable for the past 3-4 months and I am thrilled and at the same time still anxious. I have a chronic disease for which I will always need treatment - I have come to accept that and I will not let some misinformed angry sanctimonious loud mouth deny me the treatment I and many others need.

"She feels strongly that obesity is the result of lifestyle choices"

What she doesn't seem to understand is that just because she believes something strongly, that doesn't make it true.

After a LIFETIME (I am now 56) of yo-yo dieting and struggling with my weight to no avail I can certainly certify that obesity is a medical condition. I have pictures of me being a very skinny kid at age 6. My mom got scared that I was too skinny (I was also born prematurely) and consulted a doctor who prescribed some sort of concoction for me. Result? By age 11 I was a fat kid with boys making fun  of me. At 18, fed up with being fat I went on a diet for the first time in my life. I lost a lot of weight and looked really good. Then College happened and cafeteria food and snacking with the gang happened. By 23 I was overweight again and went on a diet again. This pattern of losing and regaining followed me all my life.
Then I was diagnosed with MS and had to take corticosteroids and other "fun" meds. Result? You guessed it. I became huge again and there was no losing this time no matter how hard I tried. Many years of that brought me to the surgery table. "A choice" ? I wouldn't say that.
Amalia

Im on the fence. To some point i think its a disease, as it is for me. I have a medical condition. But I dont think that every obese person has a medical condition, alot of obease people 1:like to eat, 2: eat the poor choice foods, and 3: they overeat. Im not saying this is the case for everyone, but I FEEL for alot of them. I used to eat some of the wrong foods, but i never really over ate. So is it a disease?? MAYBE.....