Obesity

Obesity is a medical classification regarding an extreme and unhealthy level of excessive body weight. It is a more serious classification on the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale than overweight. Some consequences of obesity include Type 2 diabetes, strain on joints, and an increased risk of stroke and heart attack. Obesity has become more common in the United States and is increasing in many developed countries.

Obesity has many causes, including some that are choice and controllable such as sinful overeating (gluttony) and/or lack of exercise. It can also be caused by improper hormone production or other malfunctions of various brain structures, including in particular the hypothalamus (site of the reward pathways, [this action=release of serotonin=feeling of pleasure]) and thyroid gland.

Obesity is most dangerous among the children and the elderly, whose bones, livers, and lungs are too weak to deal with the excess weight and fat. Obesity can significantly shorten a person's lifespan.

Many in the medical establishment consider obesity to be an illness, in the sense that it is a serious medical condition, but disagree about the root causes of non-hormone related obesity. The medical world is nearly unanimously agreed that obesity is a big problem in the Western world, and in fact becoming a problem world wide.

Liberals' answer to this problem has been to shift responsibility from those who are overeating (not including people with medical factors that cause the problems), to regulating how much fat can be in foods, what foods can be served at what restaurants, and trying to put financial penalties on restaurants that serve "fatty" foods.

World issues on Hunger vs. Obesity

It has been noted that world obesity has risen, yet there is still an endless problem with starvation and hunger and malnutrition in both America and the world at large. A growing problem is food distribution being horded and poorly distributed by groups like the United Nations, as well as poor food choices made by the less fortunate who would rather spend limited dollars on treat-like foods than on (admittedly harder to cook and less tasty, but better for you) choices like beans, rice, and canned vegetables. Liberals tend to deny the roles of personal choice and problems like greed in the UN, rather blaming the "establishment" for the entire problem of both hunger and obesity.

Lesbianism and obesity

See also: Lesbianism and obesity and Homosexuality and health and gluttony

Concerning lesbianism and obesity, in April of 2007, the American Journal of Public Health analyzed data from 2002 National Survey of Family Growth and the data suggested that American lesbian women were 2.69 times more likely to be overweight and 2.47 times more likely to be obese than all other female sexual orientation groups. The abstract for this study indicated that "lesbians are at greater risk for morbidity and mortality linked to overweight and obesity."

In 2009, the PubMed article abstract for the Polish psychiatry journal Psychiatria Polska article Body Image in Homosexual Persons declared:

“

Homosexual women are less concentrated on physical appearance and more satisfied with their bodies while being more tolerant to obesity.... For lesbian women the ideal body image is more massive than for heterosexual women.

”

In 2007, a purported lesbian wrote to Andrew Sullivan, the political commentator and administrator of The Daily Dish blog:

“

And - oh heck, I'll admit it - aesthetics have value, too! As a woman, I may not be as focused on looks as men are predisposed to be, but I sure am tired of seeing so many queer ladies out there who are way past 200 pounds. Way, way past. Sorry, but no amount of "fat acceptance" is going to make that a pleasant sight - gay, straight, butch, femme, male or female.

”

See also

• American Medical Association
• Doctor
• Gluttony
• Naturopathy
• Lesbianism and Obesity