Question

3. Why do you think obesity should or should not be treated as a disease? Do you think it is really a disease? If so, is it a mental and/or physical one? 4. Define social determinants. Should health care workers focus more on the social determinants or medical issues of obesity? Explain why you think one focus would work better than another. 5. Explain "Health at Every Size Principle". Do you agree with this principal? Do you think health or size matter more in a person's life, as person's social life, and a person's health?

Answer 1

3) Obesity should be treated as a disease because it can be caused by some genes which increases the hunger of the person. It is a complex disorder that involves an excessive amount of fat in the body. Obesity has its own signs and symptoms, complications, risk factors etc like other diseases. There are some other diseases or disorders in the body which may cause obesity such as hypothyroidism, Cushing syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, etc. Some antidepressants also results in obesity.

Yes, i think obesity is really a disease because it is caused due to combination of inherited factors along with environmental factors, personal diet, and exercise choices.

It is mainly a physical disease which can cause some anxiety and psychological concerns in some person.

4) Social determinants are the group of factors that controls the social patterns of health, disease and illness. It includes the environmental and social conditions of the individual that may influence his/her health and well being. Examples of social determinants are availability of resources for daily health needs, access to health care services, access to education, economic and job opportunities, quality of education and job training,etc.

Health workers should focus more on the medical issues of the obesity.

Focus on medical issues would work better than another because there is the risk of other diseases or disorders such as heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension, some cancers, digestive problems like heart burn, liver and gall bladder diseases, infertility or irregular menstrual periods in females, erectile dysfunction in males, sleep apnoea, osteoarthritis, etc which may be caused due to obesity.

5) "Health at every size" principle is a weight inclusion approach which forms the basis of fat acceptance movement. It rejects the scientific opinion regarding the excessive calorie intake, sedentary lifestyle, and greater body weight. According to this principle, health is a result of behaviours that are independent of body weight.

Yes, i also agree with this principle. It is because it has been observed that weight loss methods such as dieting does not results in the satisfactory health outcomes as compared to that of nutritious eating and exercise.

Yes, i think health or size matter more in a person's life, as person's social life, and a person's health because excessive weight loss can cause physical, psychological, and social damage to the person.