It's official: "obesity is a disease," says AMA

The American Medical Association at its annual meeting this week adopted a policy that recognizes obesity as a disease requiring a range of medical interventions to advance obesity treatment and prevention.“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” said AMA board member Patrice Harris, adding: “The AMA is committed to improving health outcomes and is working to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, which are often linked to obesity.”

"Classifying obesity as a disease will reduce weight bias," said Ethan Lazarus, AMA House of Delegates representative for the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP), who spoke in favor of the policy during the full HOD meeting. "It means that medical students and residents will receive training in what obesity is and in the best treatment approaches. It means that the medical community will have incentive to research and develop new and better prevention and treatment strategies. But most importantly, it communicates to individuals affected by obesity that this is a chronic disease, not a problem of personal responsibility," added Dr Lazarus.

The AMA also noted that obesity rates in the USA have "doubled among adults in the last 20 years and tripled among children in a single generation," and that the Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization, and the Internal Revenue Service already recognize obesity as a disease.