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Obesity as a Disease

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Abstract

In recent years, obesity and related medical conditions have become leading public health concerns worldwide. Policy measures to combat or prevent obesity have been instated in a number of countries, with varying degrees of success. To stress the importance of obesity as a health issue, many professional health organizations, including the American Medical Association, have defined obesity itself as a disease. While this may be somewhat controversial, the high risk of comorbid conditions in obese individuals, the significant changes from healthy physiology that are present in the obese state, and the need for further public policies to address the public health threat and economic impact of obesity in the population are strong supporting arguments to label obesity as a disease.

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Conflict of Interest

Michael A. Via declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Jeffrey I. Mechanick has received honoraria from Abbott Nutrition for lectures and program development.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Beth Israel Medical Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 55 East 34th St., New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Michael A. Via

  2. Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Jeffrey I. Mechanick

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Via, M.A., Mechanick, J.I. Obesity as a Disease. Curr Obes Rep 3, 291–297 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-014-0108-9

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