The first reason why people believe obesity is a disease is that obesity impairs the normal functioning of a body. People who are obese have excess fat tissue in their bodies. The excess fat causes the overproduction of certain molecules, which will lead to an abnormal regulation of food intake and energy waste (ProCon.org “Is Obesity a Disease?”). A person is categorized whether they are normal, overweight, or obese by their BMI. A BMI is a calculated y by their height and weight. A normal non-obese adult’s BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. An overweight adult’s BMI is 25 to 29.9. Anything over 30 is classified as obese (ProCon.org “Is Obesity a Disease?”).
Another reason people believe obesity is a disease is obesity can decreases a person's life expectancy or can even cause death. Obesity in adults can lead to three years loss of life; extreme obesity can shorten a person's life span by ten years (ProCon.org “Is Obesity a Disease?”). In 2005 obesity accounted for an estimated 216,000 deaths (One in Ten deaths) among US adults. It was the third-leading risk factor in US adult deaths, after tobacco smoking (467,000 deaths) and high blood pressure (395,000 deaths) (ProCon.org “Is Obesity a Disease?”).
The final reason obesity is a disease is that some studies have shown that obesity can be hereditary. Therefore, obesity is not the result of people lacking willpower to exercise or eat less, but is genetically predetermined (ProCon.org “Is Obesity a