Michael Buerk. Is obesity a disease?

I had this discussion with a group of women not long ago, some of whom assumed the overweight women they'd seen using mobility scooters deserved no sympathy.

I was rather taken aback that only a few said there are illnesses which make normal mobility difficult and weight gain can be a result. There are also drugs that people have to take every day (I am one of them) which cause weight gain.

My weight has increased considerably since I was healthy and at work. I do not stuff my face, I am as active as I can be although retirement has meant I can indulge in sedentary pastimes like reading, writing and art-based activities, which doesn't help. I clean the house, walk, swim when I feel up to it, cook healthy meals and enjoy sight-seeing rather than lounge-around beach holidays. Most of our day trips out involve walking around. I do what I can. I value my mobility.

However, I am now overweight. I am far from being a couch potato though and I don't eat sweets, crisps, pastry or junk food. I eat cake occasionally, when out with friends, drink wine and G&T but not every day and in moderation when I do.

I have stopped trying to justify my weight gain to those who imagine all who are overweight are greedy, ignorant slobs who have brought it on themselves. It wasn't so long ago I ran, played tennis, enjoyed hill-climbing and I have even had a go at orienteering, abseiling, and kayaking when younger and fitter.

Don't be too quick to judge.

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A lot of overweight people are foodaholics - same syndrome as alcoholics - can't just have one biscuit, binge etc. Also many people associate food with affection, so when unhappy, eat. Or when happy eat anyway!

How do I know all this? Not a mystery. Glad to say after a lifetime of diets and ups and downs I am currently at a good weight, a recovering foodaholic who goes to a meeting once week, WW, as it's now called.

My daughter is 5 foot 8 inches tall ,up until 5 years ago she was a healthy size 12 .Then she got ill,was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia,Hyper joint mobility syndrom,polysystic ovaries chostrochondritis and other things...she's now a size 20 -22 maybe bigger.She cant move because her joints pop out, she has chronic pain head to foot, she's exhausted all the time .She spends much of her time in bed.On the odd good day she manages to drive the 15 miles to her nearest town with her girls she gets tutted at and verbal abuse.She takes 22 pills a day plus morphine on really bad days .

Believe me her weight gain isn't through eating too much ,its mainly caused by the medication and her lack of mobility .Please stop being judgemental about young women who weigh more than YOU think they should.She would love to get back to a size 12 and be able to have her life back and run her business again .Sadly its not her call .

I agree about portion size. They are often so big now. Some starters are as large as a main course and you may not know this until you've already ordered.

If you're of a certain age, too, you'll have been raised not to leave anything on your plate and it's really, really hard to throw off that habit.

Some people unlearn what hungry and full feel like.

Or the difference between hunger and thirst/boredom/anxiety

Thats the thing! I hate waste, so if I underestimate what the portion size will be and order a meal that is too big, I feel that I HAVE to eat it!

I think a lot of people are similarly minded so keep eating beyond the point where it is satisfying and enjoyable.

It makes eating out less enjoyable. I think that is why I enjoy sushi and tapas. You can just keep ordering until youre full then stop!

I can't exercise as much as I did. I use a mobility scooter because my heart lacks stamina to keep me upright for long.

Therefore I need to eat less. I just ate a Crunchy bar after two slices of cheese toast and I'll have to either make excuses for myself or eat nothing for the rest of the day., or both.

Generally portion size has increased. I find large portions put me off eating out these days. I know you can leave it but it spoils the experience for me. ( I hate waste). My MIL used to say this and I never understood until now. It really spoils my appetite. Unfortunately many people can and do eat the lot!

I agree with you about portion sizes, notanan2. If l am eating out l will often have a smaller portion when available. I recently returned from the USA and Canada and portion sizes there are incredible. I wanted a small ice cream and could not believe the amount l was given. I find too much on a plate is really off-putting.

Even coffees are huge!

Portions are so big these days too, I like my food and dont bird-eat but often one adult meal is enough to share between two!

Having been at the cinema last night with 7year old GD I think a hard Brexit will do us some good given the scares about food shortages. I was quite taken aback by the amount of food people were bringing in to the theatre , even a lad of about 5 seemed to just eat for the whole 2 hours. Is obesity an illness, No, it's a great marketing exercise.

I think for a lot of people it's "creep"

Gradual weight gain.... "life happening" which makes people think its a bad time to change habits.. and often people dont realise how much theyve gained until they see an unflattering picture etc

Its never a "good time" to get healthy there are always excuses: babies, new jobs, house moves, emotional times etc

I think a lot of people just put their health on the long finger and it acumulates and acumulates.

I do not believe the really obese people got that way by eating too much, or by eating the wrong foods. I'm no expert but I believe there is some other underlying cause that makes them that way. Either genetic, or something else.

It has been proved that genes do play a part:

On a very simple level, your weight depends on the number of calories you consume, how many of those calories you store, and how many you burn up. But each of these factors is influenced by a combination of genes and environment. Both can affect your physiology (such as how fast you burn calories) as well as your behaviour (the types of foods you choose to eat, for instance). The interplay between all these factors begins at the moment of your conception and continues throughout your life.

Harvard Medical School

Minniemoo thank you for the link. My next task will be to convince the doctor that I weigh too much! They always say 'Oh no, you're fine, don't worry about it,' when in fact I'm uncomfortable and want to lose weight.

Chips are only on the menu once a week in the schools I work in and the portions are not massive. Fishy Friday is always popular!

Of course unfortunately we all make a judgement on why people are obese, but as has been previously observed some people are on medication. I am currently taking steroids for Polymyalgia rheumatica which is a double whammy as steroids increase your appetite and you do feel constantly hungry and the PMR makes you less mobile. I eat a healthy diet and we cook all our food from scratch. I do think however that take aways and fast food encourages obesity as I believe that some people/families eat these quite regularly. Even school meals encourage ‘bad’ choices with, pizza and chips regularly on menus.

yeah must kick this overeating lark it's 5pm and today I've eaten two apples and only drunk water. I have to eat to live but have no real interest in it at all. I take supplements for my vitamins etc but food doesn't interest my lardy arse. Oh except there's nothing lardy about me I'm very firm and muscular but still overweight. So of course I must be lying about my food intake except I'm not. The world is full of judgmental people the key is to ignore them.

There are medical conditions that cause you to carry weight and I have one of them PBC, an autoimmune condition with no cure, just a live transplant. With this condition you carry excessive amounts of fluid and at times need to go into hospital to have it drained. It makes you look fat and has weight. Also you are excessively tired and to exercise or just walk to the shops is b....y hard work.

I am one of the lucky ones who despite having PBC has not had the fluid retention problem and my tiredness is not as bad as others so I weigh in at 68kgs at 5.5 (and a half) . We have to stop judging EVERYONE and be a bit more compassionate.

Of course obesity is a disease, in that it causes harm and can even kill. And as with any disease, that doesn't mean that the person who suffers from it is powerless to get healthy.

There are lots of causes of obesity, but probably the main causes are comfort eating and too many additives in our food.

Anyone on medication for type 2 diabetes the meds make you lay down fat . It is tough when you were OK when diagnosed but put on weight afterwards . I am now on insulin so really having to battle to keep the weight off despite a modest food intake .

Gabriella. I am not overweight. In fact I am slightly underweight.

But I am sticking up for people who are overweight due to an illness and/or medication. These are not excuses, they are legitimate reasons.

People are very judgmental. They look at an overweight person and decide they eat too much.

Very difficult to differentiate between those who eat too much and those with genuine illnesses.

It's not just about food consumption or even the type or quality of food. I was a child in the 60's and early 70's and most of what i ate at home (not at my grans' houses) came out of a tin or packet and was often in colours not known to nature. HOWEVER (you know what's coming) we were never in the house. We were not trained by ridiculous amounts of homework - at least at primary school - to be in at home in the evenings. At school - which started at 8/30 and finished at 4 we had three playtimes and at the weekends you were only indoors if there was a Armageddon weather and I knew ONE fat child. Just ONE. Today, even the non-obese children you see look anaemic and as if walking more than 6 ft would wear them out.
My eating habits are now healthy but as a child I ate a lot of crap and was skinny as a rake until hormones hit. Even then I wasn't fat.
Microwaves and instant food and processed food are all disastrous yes - but as folk move less and less, humans will just become wheezing blobs. Oh - no - that's wrong cos after Brexit no one will be able to afford to run their cars and there will be precious little in the way of luxury goods. There - I knew something good would eventually come out of the jingoism and xenophobia...