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The most basic definition of obesity is abnormal or excessive fat tissue accumulation that presents a risk to health. The Obesity Medicine Association has a more comprehensive definition (although it’s really wordy) – in a nutshell, it states that obesity is a chronic, relapsing, multifactorial disease that results in adverse health consequences.
Regardless of how you word it, the important thing to take away is that obesity is a disease – one caused by a complex interplay among genetics, environment, and many other factors. Even more important is the fact that a person is no more at fault for developing obesity than they are for developing cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure.
Patients with obesity deserve the same respect and compassionate healthcare as those being treated for other conditions.
People that suffer from obesity deserve evidence-based treatments – just like people that suffer from cancer deserve evidence-based treatments. And think about this: people that suffer from obesity don’t want to have obesity any more than people with cancer want to have cancer.
This never ceases to impress me:
Colleen Rand, an obesity researcher at the University of Florida, asked 47 people that had overcome obesity whether they would rather be at their previous weight or have some other disability. Every one of the 47 people said they would rather experience deafness, dyslexia, diabetes, bad acne, or heart disease than have obesity again. 91% said they would rather have a leg amputated. 89% would rather be blind.
This is why we say over and over again, that at Heartland Weight Loss, we treat patients with dignity and evidence-based medicine.