Argumentative on Obesity

Mrs. Kleine
Comp 1
27 Nov. 2012
Obesity? Is it a disease or a Lifestyle?
Problem Statement
Less than half of Americans struggle with obesity today, but it is credited with causing over sixty known diseases. Whereas obesity is not a disease, it does cause myriads of health risks. Our bodies are very complex systems, and they need to be taken care of. When people do not properly care for their bodies, they begin to have too much fat on their bodies which puts them at high risk for detrimental health issues. Obesity has become an epidemic across our country, and it is time that people start caring about their health.
Background
Obesity has been a problem in America for centuries. In 1940 the first McDonalds opened and you start to see the trend of obesity slowly rise. As more fast food franchises started to open the trend increased even more. By 1970 the rate of obesity in children more than tripled for 17%, and the rate of obesity in adults doubled from fifteen percent (“Do fast food restaurants contribute to obesity?” 1) Now in the 21st century adult obesity rates have jumped to thirty percent. By 2030, the obesity rate of adults in America is expected to take a drastic jump up to 60 percent (“Causes, incidents, and risk factor” 2).
Thesis
Obesity should not be considered a disease because it is a lifestyle a person chooses to live, a person’s metabolic rate is often affected by the lifestyle that a person lives, and an obese person can prevent becoming that big by participating in an appropriate amount of physical activity to keep their weight under control.
Arguments
A person has a choice about what to eat and whether they choose to exercise or not. Obesity is caused by an excess amount of fat on a person’s body. Obesity can be caused by eating more food than your body can handle, drinking alcohol, or not participating in physical exercise (“Causes, Incidents, and Risk Factors” 1). Being obese is not a disease because it is completely controllable. Letting a body become obese puts it at risk for many other health issues such as diabetes (type 2), heart problems, and bone decomposition. Having too much fat on a body’s bones will cause strain to be placed on the bones. Joints will wear out quicker and the body will be more likely to get broken bones because the bones are already weakened from trying to support more weight than they are built for (“Effects on Bones” 3). My point is that obesity is not a disease but a lifestyle that a person chooses, causing them to have other health issues and be more exposed to getting other diseases, but obesity itself is not a disease. Obesity is a precursor for many diseases and it can also be the side effect of some disease, but even as a side effect of an actual disease, it can be controlled. Type 2 diabetes is a condition where there is too much glucose in the blood. It does not show up in a person until later in life, and it is caused by being obese. A person can even get rid of their type 2 diabetes by controlling their diet and exercising (“Type Two Diabetes” 1). Health insurance companies do not cover treatments for obesity because they do not consider obesity a disease for the same reasons that I listed above. Metabolic rate also has a lot to do with how much a person weights. The hypothalamus inside our brain will send out a signal that triggers a hormone called leptin to be secreted by the pituitary gland. Leptin helps control your metabolic rate which is what allows your body to burn off calories (What is Leptin? 2). The more leptin there is in your body, the faster you will burn off calories. If there is not enough leptin in the body, then this will cause the metabolic rate to slow down, and the person will begin to gain weight. Far too often when a person notices that they are beginning to gain weight, they will fast certain meals during the day to counter their weight gain. This is worst thing to do because by not eating your body thinks it needs less leptin and when you do eat there is not enough leptin to account for the food intake (“The Role of Leptin in the Regulation of Food Intake and Body Weight in Humans” 1). This is all controlled by the person themselves. It has nothing to do with an internal problem that they cannot control. The “weight” of gaining weight rest on that person’s shoulders. They can change it themselves, and start exercising instead of skipping meals. An average person only needs to exercise thirty minutes a day other than daily activities such as walking around the grocery store to keep her weight at a constant rate (“Exercising and Staying Fit” 1). If a person knows that his/her food intake is more than the average person is, then they should adjust their extra exercising per day accordingly to that. In addition, thirty minutes out of a day is immaterial compared to the number of benefits that will come from staying in shape and taking care of your body. Walking up and down the road, vigorously cleaning the house, or playing outside with the kids for thirty minutes should not inconvenience anyone. There is always a way to work in an extra thirty minutes of activity into a busy, stressful day. It could even help you unwind and calm down after a tiring day while at the same time bettering the health of your body (Causes, Incidents, and Risk Factors 3).
Refutation
I understand you may still be skeptic of my claim. You may say that some people are born larger than an average person are big-boned. Where that is true, some babies are larger than the average child, but as a child gets older he/she will lose their “baby fat” if their diet is appropriate and they do not sit around the house all day and never have active play. A child’s metabolism will naturally take care of the “baby fat” by the time the child is three years old (Causes, Incidents, and Risk Factors 5).
Another question you may have is that diseases, such diabetes, cause a person to be obese so in their case would obesity be considered a disease? No it would not be considered a disease because diabetes type one is not caused from being obese. It is a genetic disorder passed down through a family line, and people with diabetes type one are not obese. Now diabetes type two is specifically caused by being obese. It is developed from the excess glucose levels in the blood streams for all the excess fat on the body (Type Two Diabetes 1). I also understand that you may be aware that there are certain metabolic diseases that cause a person to not be able to burn off fats and sugars from their body causing obesity. That is very true. Certain people have an inability to get rid of the fat on their body. In this case, obesity would be the side effect of the disease. The metabolic problem caused by a malfunction of the hypothalamus is the disease which causes obesity, the side effect of the disease. In other words, obesity can be a lifestyle or a side effect of a disease, but it cannot be a disease.
Conclusion
In conclusion, obesity is caused by taking in more calories than you burn off. It is not a disease; a person’s lifestyle will be reflected in their size. People choose to be the way they are because obesity can be controlled by eating appropriate foods and having enough exercise to compensate for the amount of food that is eaten. Every person knows how much food they eat so exercising enough comparably to a person’s diet should not be an issue. Everyone has control of their own body. No one else makes a person eat too much and become obese. Therefore obesity is completely controllable by an appropriate diet and enough exercise, and it should not be considered a disease.

Works Cited
Unknown. “Causes, incidents, and risk factors.” PubMed Health. 12 May 2012. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govpubmedhealthPMH>.
Unkown. “Do fast food restaurants contribute to obesity?” The National Bureau of Economic Research. 26 Nov 2012. The national Bureau of Economic Research(NBER). 1 Nov 2012. <http://www.nber.org/bah/2009no1/w14721.html>.
Unkown. “Effects on bones.” Harvard School of Public Health. 25 Jan 2012. Harvard University. 29 Oct 2012. < http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-consequences/health-effects/index.html>.
Unkown. “Exercising and Staying Fit.” StayingFit.net. 24 Mar 2006. Unknown. 16 Nov 2012. <http://www.stayingfit.net/>
Unkown. “Obesity.” Trust of America’s Health. 29 Apr 2010. Unknown. 16 Nov 2012. <http://healthyamericans.org/obesity/>.
Unkown. “The role of leptin in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans.” PubMed Health. 8 Jan 2007. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. 7 Nov 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17212793>.
Unkown. “Type 2 diabetes.” PubMed Health. 28 Jun 2011. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. 22 Oct 2012. < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001356/>.

Cited: Unknown. “Causes, incidents, and risk factors.” PubMed Health. 12 May 2012. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. 25 Oct 2012. &lt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govpubmedhealthPMH&gt;. Unkown. “Do fast food restaurants contribute to obesity?” The National Bureau of Economic Research. 26 Nov 2012. The national Bureau of Economic Research(NBER). 1 Nov 2012. &lt;http://www.nber.org/bah/2009no1/w14721.html&gt;. Unkown. “Effects on bones.” Harvard School of Public Health. 25 Jan 2012. Harvard University. 29 Oct 2012. &lt; http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-consequences/health-effects/index.html&gt;. Unkown. “Exercising and Staying Fit.” StayingFit.net. 24 Mar 2006. Unknown. 16 Nov 2012. &lt;http://www.stayingfit.net/&gt; Unkown. “Obesity.” Trust of America’s Health. 29 Apr 2010. Unknown. 16 Nov 2012. &lt;http://healthyamericans.org/obesity/&gt;. Unkown. “The role of leptin in the regulation of food intake and body weight in humans.” PubMed Health. 8 Jan 2007. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. 7 Nov 2012. &lt;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17212793&gt;. Unkown. “Type 2 diabetes.” PubMed Health. 28 Jun 2011. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. 22 Oct 2012. &lt; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001356/&gt;.