Well, if it would be mostly genetics that caused obesity than look at figures from the past. If the amount of people with obesity is somewhat the same, than it can be attributed to genetics. If the numbers are different than there are other factors into play. Types of food we are eating, exercise etc. These are all things we can control ourselves.

I believe most obesity can be avoided in most cases through healty diet and regular exercise.

I think the definition of "disease" is technically a bit broader than people generally use it, and that it actually includes pretty much anything that causes problems that isn't the result of direct physical injury.

OT: You've clearly studied it in more detail than I ever could, so I'll trust your research. I think it's pretty interesting, especially when I look at my family and how me and my siblings take after our parents in weight despite having very different eating habits.

I've always thought of it as a symptom rather than a disease, and more often a symptom of a mental disease than a physical one. If we consider addiction to be a mental disorder, then to be addicted to food in a way which affects your health can surely be termed a disease. Obesity would be the outward, visible sign of that disease.

On http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/mental_illness?gclid=COmmkbaB-K8CFYXP3wodIjE1VQ bingeing and compulsive eating are said to be two of the most common mental health problems.

It's still a disease even if some of it is genetic in nature. That still doesn't mean that people who are at risk can't carry out a healthy lifestyle to minimise their risk. And I'm fairly sure that the majority of patients who are obese can have it blamed on themselves, unless the human population has suddenly an increase in the number of mutations relating to metabolism.

Ranorak:
I
But studies[1,2] have shown that 40-70% of human obesity is caused by genetics. That matches the accepted genetic contribution to hight. Single genetic mutations can cause key proteins to lose part, or all, of their function, and therefore are unable to metabolise carbohydrates as well as healthy people.
In fact, knocking out those genes in mice will result in a obese phenotype.
Hypothetical, if I eat a bag of chips, I might convert 10% of the carbohydrates to fat.
While someone with such a mutation would convert 20% into fat. (these numbers are not representations of real metabolism)

Meaning that a normal diet would cause these people to become overweight.

0% of human obesity is caused by genetics. As per your example: if you eat a bag of chips, you might convert a % to fat, someone else might convert a different % to fat. The fat still comes from eating that pack of chips. That is environment not genetics.

People (and all other living creatures) get fat when energy output is less than energy input, on an individual level, there is some small variation on the ability of the body to efficiently process energy input, and some bodies no doubt are more efficient with energy output, these small genetic variations are by no means the driving factor in obesity in the population. BMI in the population dropped during WW1 and WW2 as food was rationed and luxuries limited, and has increased at an alarming rate over the last 50 years, not because in 2 generations an abundance of genetic mutations has occurred, but because: McDonalds went from 0 restaurants to 30,000 during this time, and television sets in the US went from 6,000,000 in 1950 to 250,000,000 today, the economy has moved away from manual labour, everyone got a car, someone invented the internet, etc etc

In two generations changes in genetic mutations doesn't account for fuck all. The population ate millions of hamburgers, watched millions of hours of TV, drove millions of miles in the cars, surfed millions of pages on the net, and got fat.

Ranorak:

But studies[1,2] have shown that 40-70% of human obesity is caused by genetics.

If the word 'influenced' rather than 'caused' was used then I'm sure I could agree with this.

That matches the accepted genetic contribution to hight. Single genetic mutations can cause key proteins to lose part, or all, of their function, and therefore are unable to metabolise carbohydrates as well as healthy people.
In fact, knocking out those genes in mice will result in a obese phenotype.
Hypothetical, if I eat a bag of chips, I might convert 10% of the carbohydrates to fat.
While someone with such a mutation would convert 20% into fat. (these numbers are not representations of real metabolism)

That example has no basis in science. If you eat a bag of potato chips, ZERO percent of the carbs will get converted to fat if you don't consume enough calories in the day so that it goes over your daily calorie maintenance intake. I could lose weight on Mcdonalds if I wanted to. I'd just have to consume less calories from there than what I burn everyday. I wouldn't even need to work out. There would be negative health benefits from only eating McDs of course, but I could still lose weight on it. Calories in vs calories out is the determiner of weight gain, loss and maintenance, not a certain percentage of something being converted to fat just because.

-I'm not advocating fat people attempt to lose weight on Mcdonalds because in practice its easier to consume more calories from fast food than from skinless chicken and brown rice, (its more filling), as well as the other negative health benefits, but they could if they wanted to, (they'd be pretty damn hungry if they have a very slow metabolism but it could be done.)

People who are obese have faster metabolisms usually. That's primarily the genetic factor of it. I mean I am certain that I could never ever weigh 300 pounds. I could not physically consume enough calories to go over my daily calorie maintenance level, (which rises as you gain weight - 250 pound person has to eat more than 150 pound person to gain weight assuming other variables are the same, and in many cases even if a lot of the variables aren't the same), so that I could gain weight to get to that point.

Meaning that a normal diet would cause these people to become overweight.

That's not what you said. You said obese. Overweight is not the same thing as obese.

If a 'normal diet', which I guess would be determined by society as 2000 calories, (which might make a chick fat more so than it would a guy), and it makes someone gain weight, then they simply need to consume less calories, unless they have some rare minority disorder that is used by some obese people in an attempt to justify their gluttony and/or lack of willingness to exercise.

I can understand a genetic influence causing people who have a reasonably normal, healthy diet putting on more weight than others. However, no reasonable diet will cause you to be obese. If you're getting too fat, eat a bit less, jog a bit more. I'm probably a stone overweight at the moment. Why? I eat loads of biscuits and don't get out enough. For about 3 weeks I cut out all snacks and then was quite ill and didn't eat much. I lost a fair bit of weight. You don't get fat by eating appropriately to your energy output.

Luna:

If a 'normal diet', which I guess would be determined by society as 2000 calories, and it makes someone gain weight, then they simply need to consume less calories

Yeah, it really is that simple.
There is no such thing as a 'normal diet'. If you live in a cold environment and excercise a lot, than you need lots of calories to survive. When Dr Mike Stroud and Sir Ranulph Fiennes crossed the antarctic on foot in 1992/93, each man expended almost 7000 kcal per day, increasing to nearly 11,000 kcal during ascents..
If you live in a comfortable ar-conditioned apartment in the year 2012 sitting behind a computer 18 hours a day, and think that walking to the fridge to get a red bull is excercise, than you probably could survive on 800 calories a day.

The idea of how much a person should eat hasn't changed signifiantly over the last 50 years, whilst modern conveniences and lifestyle choices reduce our energy output. Therefore we get fat.

Ranorak:
It's consequences are the leading cause of death in most of the western world.

I wouldn't be so sure. Obesity seems to be one of those areas where you're allowed to scare monger. Society has decided upon an ideal body weight, and anybody who doesn't confirm is to be reviled.

Yes, there are health risks associated with being overweight, but then there are will any number of things that don't attract the same bile. Motorcyclists, for example.

And, as mentioned, not everyone finds it equally easy to manage their weight. There are any number of things that can make that difficult.

No and still no.

Well, let me clarify my second no. To me a disease is something you need medicine to counter act, this just means people with this genetic code (or whatever) need to adjust there diet and exercise accordingly.

I'm not sure it's a disease, but genetics are involved. The possibility of being obese is greater in some than others. I eat well - cook for myself, only buy pop/chips/candy maybe once a month as a treat, have veggies with every meal, etc, but am overweight. I've been overweight since childhood. I didn't eat well as a child, but walked 20 minutes each way to school (and home for lunch), played baseball, basketball, and roamed the streets on my bike. I was your typical active child. Then puberty, etc. Still walked to school and played baseball, but started filling out. Filled out all though middle and high school (still walked and played baseball). Have always been filled out.

I've accepted it now, and know I need more exercise - my diet could still be better but it's pretty good. However, my grandmother has like 7 sisters - and every single one of them has the exact same body shape as me. Tall and well-proportioned (ie top half and lower half are the same size) for being overweight, except for a spare tire around the middle. Every single one, including my aunt and second cousins twice removed, etc. And these women are all farmers (or were), so they were active their whole lives.

Again, I'm not sure if it's a disease, but it is genetics. Except now we're not as active as we were as a society, and we're eating a lot more processed things. I'm sure genetically modified foods don't help, either. (As I sit at my desk and eat my Chex...)

Ranorak:
But studies[1,2] have shown that 40-70% of human obesity is caused by genetics.

That's a very large margin of error.

BringBackBuck:
BMI in the population dropped during WW1 and WW2 as food was rationed and luxuries limited, and has increased at an alarming rate over the last 50 years, not because in 2 generations an abundance of genetic mutations has occurred, but because: McDonalds went from 0 restaurants to 30,000 during this time, and television sets in the US went from 6,000,000 in 1950 to 250,000,000 today, the economy has moved away from manual labour, everyone got a car, someone invented the internet, etc etc

Actually a lack of nutrition during the developmental phases of pregnancy causes changes in the foetus which result in greater preservation of fat after the child is born. When food is rationed during pregnancy the pregnant woman's body produces a baby designed to survive a life of scarcity. It happened that by the time the baby was born, the war was over. This lead to a children with a higher propensity to store fat and conserve energy, ideal for living in difficult conditions, being born into a life of plenty.

I'm not saying it can't be overcome. I'm just saying it's more complex than "people are eating more McDonalds now".

A disease? lol Obesity is the result of eating far too much and doing little to no exercise.
A classic case would be my old flatmate, a 20 stone (280lbs for the Americans) female who would sit on her arse smoking weed all day and stuffing her face and would say "I don't know why I'm so fat!" It's not a disease, if anything it's ignorance and plain old stupidity. Eating far more calories than you use will lead to you being a fatty, plain and simple.

Weight gain is 5% genetics.

saying being fat is a disease is simply an excuse for being lazy.

Everybody has to be a victim these days, "I'm fat because I have a disease." No, your fat because, you eat too much, don't have a job, and live in your mom's basement, now get outside and go play under the sun.

Ranorak:
Now, do you consider obesity a disease?

No I don't. Even taking into account the fact that some people are either genetically predisposed to convert more carbs into body fat, or even more likely, after years of eating high carb diets and constantly spiking their blood glucose have left themselves so insulin resistant that they convert carbs to fat more readily than before, the vast majority of the population will lose body fat on a low carb, high fat diet. Yes, they'll store more fat on the standard american diet, but obesity in that case is simply one of many conditions eating like that would cause.

Honestly, obesity wouldn't be nearly the problem it is if people just ate more quality meats and vegetables and left the sugar and starchy vegetables on store shelves, and left grains for those third world countries which literally can't feed their population without them. But part of the problem is we've had the government and supposed experts shoving bad dietary advice down our throats for 50 years. Hell, grains shouldn't be on a food pyramid at all, let alone used as the base for the thing and the majority of every single meal.

Das Boot:
The problem with that is that exercise also plays a large amount in obesity.

Actually it doesn't. It is entirely possible to gain body fat while working out religiously, and in excess of what the average person would consider a good workout simply as a result of diet. Exercise will help develop physical strength, stamina, endurance, etc. but diet plays the majority role in fat loss or gain for most people.

In the past though foods were much less fatty

They actually weren't. People used to regularly eat fatty meats, drink raw milk and cook with butter and lard. The move to lower fat diets didn't really start until about the early 60's when the government began pushing it as the answer to reducing heart disease. Out of that we got things like recommending people base their diets on bread and grains, eat lean meats, and cook with unnatural vegetable oils extracted from seeds using chemical solvents rather than more natural things like animal fats which we'd been eating for hundreds of thousands of years.

Since then rates of heart disease and obesity have been steadily increasing, which isn't surprising when you cut out fats we need like animal fat, and tell people to eat 300+ carbs a day. You might as tell them to smoke to avoid lung cancer.

Um... no?
How can you even think of that?

Obesity is a symptom to many different kinds of factors, some lifestyle- and some health related.
Sure, there are diseases that actually cause obesity or make losing weight harder but there is no such thing as the "obesity disease".
If you label it a "disease" you imply there to be only one given factor with very minor variations at best that makes people become fat, namely said disease.

That's just silly and far removed from reality.
Labeling a symptom as a disease is quite literally backwards.

You would have more success asking if it is a disability, I believe that is the term you had in mind.
Or maybe if it is a choice.
The answer to both would be a definite "sometimes".
It's not always a clear cut thing to generalize like that.

Some diseases can contribute to obesity, but being overweight is largely a choice. While some of us are genetically predisposed to being overweight, most people who are large simply don't want to lose weight--if they wanted to, they could, it's just not easy.

I, for one, don't give a rat's ass about weight. I'm "morbidly underweight," which is to say my lack of fatty tissue and poor diet is negatively impacting my health. But be you 50kg or 250kg, I don't care. The only time weight is a problem, in my eyes, is when it stops you from doing what you want in your life. Don't lose weight, get in shape or work out and eat right because other people want you to. It's your life and you only get to do it once, so do it exactly how you want to.

/rant

Im fat because i eat alot of junk food and spend alot of time sitting down, i dont really consider that a disease.

Untill a time in which a doctor tells me that i have somesort of glandular problem i will chalk my weight upto poor eating and exercise habits rather then any kind of genetic malfunction.

While genetics is a factor the chances of Obesity, it isn't the be all end all of it either. You cram enough processed food down your gullet you WILL gain weight unless you burn off that energy received.

So while genetics can INCREASE your chances of becoming obese, it's not the primary factor.

On the subject of Obesity be a disease, I tend to think of it as a major preventable contributor to diseases and complications in life, allot like smoking.

REcaptcha: chicken feed

IT can be a disease. It can be avoided. It can also not be a disease.

Let's not forget that America's obesity problem also relates to just about everything containing high fructose corn syrup. Some studies are showing that HFCS is like crack.

Is that the sole reason? Also no.

I would say that obesity is a disease (it causes identifiable symptoms so it must be one) but it's easily treated or even more easily avoided so 'it's a disease' should never be used as an excuse.

There are very few conditions that lead to obesity (note, obesity rather than simply being overweight which can be caused by several hormonal conditions), obesity really is caused by eating too much of the wrong thing with too little exercise. Look at countries like India where the poorer classes earn little and have to buy cheap food, which contains a lot more fat and the like, whereas the richer classes (those on the same level as the British middle class) can buy healthier food and are not as overweight.

Obesity is easily avoided but not easily removed once it's developed as a problem. The more you eat the larger your stomach becomes, the more ghrelin (the hunger hormone) is produced, the more you eat. It's a vicious circle.

However, there is evidence that obese people have a constant, middling level of ghrelin produced which causes them to never feel full and snack throughout the day. Weirdly, getting your stomach stapled seems to return the levels to normal, possibly because most stomach-shrinking procedures involve removing some of the stomach meaning that less of the hormone can be made.

Apparently one of the major causes of obesity is that if the mother doesn't eat well during pregnancy then a certain hormone is engaged which leads to the child eating more because they perceive that their mother was starved due to low amounts of food available. So when they see the huge quantities of food that are around they eat a lot because their bodies still think there's a chance of them starving.

Nurture also plays a part; families are often fat because the children learn negative behaviour patterns from their parents, this can also help to develop the problem of 'comfort eating'.

Most of this is a simplified version of the information presented in a recent Panorama episode on the BBC about fat (which I can't find a link to, sorry), and the rest comes from the A-level course I took on psychology.

Bodybuilding here.Used to be fat.

Being overweight is a choice: The choice to not take responsibility for your body. No, it's not as simple as calories in and out, but take me for an example. I used to blame genetics because we are fat in my family instead of blaming the real culprits: ourselves and how lazy we are/were. Don't get me wrong, we work hard in my family - we are lazy in the sense that we can't be assed to educate ourselves about our bodies and even if we were we would still find ways to find it too difficult to change old habits.

Went from 5f6 250 pounds to 145 pounds before starting to get muscles and a great physique. Took me a bit under a year (losing weight part- THAT is the EASY part). If you are currently overweight and have an actual drive to change your life around you need to do the following: get yourself a rendez-vous with a trainer in a good gym that offers to analyse your body-type, your fat ratio and that will give you a new diet with your training schedule. Follow the damn diet to the letter, stop cheating except for your cheat meal (your trainer will tell you about this) and follow your new routine religiously. With some luck you'll fall in love with training and want to become a bodybuilder yourself. I can vouch for the pleasure you will get from exposing yourself to others after your hard work and know that people are pleased with what they see.

Take the challenge: Go to your gym and have a rendez-vous with the trainer and ask for help! For most people it only takes a few months to change your life forever. It took me a few days to feel increased energy and benefits (was living on pizza pockets and chips before I switched...) and I believe the same can happen to you. I won't lie to you though. During my first time at the gym I almost fainted (with extremely light weights...) and for a few weeks I felt like I had to puke after my hour at the gym. It went away after a month or two.

I understand that many may have difficulties they can't control (as in your family only eats junk food and you can't eat what you want and have no power over this situation). Still, in the end your body is a machine and unless something is very special with you and your body it will produce results equivalent to what you put into it,regardless of your feelings and what you want to look like.

Lastly: Training and bodybuilding ain't that difficult. You would think that I am ALWAYS training but that is not the case. I train 4-5 times a week, an hour MAX each time. Most of time is spent resting. In the gym you break your muscles. You need to rest to grow.

As someone who weighs 150kgs, obesity is not a disease. I know the reason I am overweight is because I eat too much junk and don't do enough exercise, not because I am sick.

IndomitableSam:
I'm not sure it's a disease, but genetics are involved. The possibility of being obese is greater in some than others. I eat well - cook for myself, only buy pop/chips/candy maybe once a month as a treat, have veggies with every meal, etc, but am overweight. I've been overweight since childhood. I didn't eat well as a child, but walked 20 minutes each way to school (and home for lunch), played baseball, basketball, and roamed the streets on my bike. I was your typical active child. Then puberty, etc. Still walked to school and played baseball, but started filling out. Filled out all though middle and high school (still walked and played baseball). Have always been filled out.

I've accepted it now, and know I need more exercise - my diet could still be better but it's pretty good. However, my grandmother has like 7 sisters - and every single one of them has the exact same body shape as me. Tall and well-proportioned (ie top half and lower half are the same size) for being overweight, except for a spare tire around the middle. Every single one, including my aunt and second cousins twice removed, etc. And these women are all farmers (or were), so they were active their whole lives.

Again, I'm not sure if it's a disease, but it is genetics. Except now we're not as active as we were as a society, and we're eating a lot more processed things. I'm sure genetically modified foods don't help, either. (As I sit at my desk and eat my Chex...)

Question: Could you tell us about your diet? What do you usually eat daily, what quantities? Give me portions sizes if possible (1 portion = 1 closed fist)

So how do you catch obesity? Is it a air borne virus? Blood borne? If a fat person bites me do I get obesity? Should I use a condom... Yeah sorry, it's a sore point with me that things are being labelled as "diseases" when they are really just a lack of self control.

You can't catch depression, you can't catch alcoholism and you can't catch obesity. Therefore they are not diseases. Calling these things "diseases" is just peoples way of not taking personal responsibility for bad life style choices.

Personally I know someone who is obese and it's her own damn fault. Eating a family pack of potato chips by yourself in one sitting is not a "disease". She was losing weight, she was exercising and eating better (and I was as supportive as possible) but she gave up. That's not a disease, it's giving up and blaming something else doesn't change that. In fact it's counter-productive to call these things "diseases" because acceptance of the truth is the first stage in getting better.

I don't find it a disease myself.

I am overwheight myself due to being that in the past I had some financial problems and my parents sent me to college in another town and the prices were too big so I had to bail.

Since then(4 years now)I've been sitting on my ass playing games and nothing else not knowing what to do.Of course my weight skyrocketed. I can't say that I eat junkfood since we those are more expensive that the normal meals my mom makes but barely moving does take it's toll. My metabolism is also very wacky at times since I've tried to burn calories and I put them back ten fold. I can still walk(have an toe problem with nail shoved into my flesh along with fungus which I can't fix right now because of the money issues)but not as much as I would want too.

Can't say I'm proud of my "obesity",but even if I wanted to lose it I can't really afford the gym trainers/workout diets that needs to be made and kept.