Thin people have obesity too, say scientists
Researchers recommend renaming condition to remove stigma as it does not only affect overweight
OBESITY should be rebranded – to encourage people struggling with their weight, researchers say.
Scientists said those who struggled to resist temptation to overeat should be treated as though they have an illness – which they named “chronic appetite dysregulation”. Such a move might reduce the stigma associated with obesity, they suggested, and help people to seek professional help with weight loss.
Scientists have identified hundreds of genes that increase the risk of obesity and affect parts of the brain that control impulses and regulate appetite.
Researchers said people in this situation should be treated as suffering from a disease, which might make them more likely to access treatments.
Margaret Steele, a lecturer at the School of Public Health, University College Cork, said instead of focusing on body mass index, doctors should consider the physiological health of those with weight problems and how well they could function metabolically.
Working alongside the University of
Galway, she studied the philosophical considerations about how obesity should be classified.
They concluded that excess weight alone was not in itself a disease – but said those with physiological health problems related to weight and struggled to control excess eating should be treated as suffering from the illness “chronic appetite dysregulation”.
Presenting her findings at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin, Dr Steele said: “[If the public is confused about obesity], people living with obesity are more likely to face stigma and less likely to receive appropriate treatment.”
She said those with chronic appetite dysregulation found it harder to resist the temptation from an environment that “throws so much food at us”.
“It’s not a question of willpower, it’s not a question of making decisions. It’s at a much, much [deeper level that we don’t really have full control over].
“They’re constantly getting signals that they’re hungry and they feel physical hunger all the time. They’re constantly being sent signals to eat and so they might respond by overeating.”
“These are the people that need to get some kind of medical help to not do that and these are the people with the disease.”
She added: “Not everyone who’s fat has the disease – it might just be that your setpoint weight is higher, but there’s nothing pathological going on. Equally, you can be thin and have the disease as well.”
The debate over whether obesity should be classed as a disease has gone on for decades, with the World Health Organisation classing it as such since 1936 while the NHS still refers to it as a term used to “describe a person who has excess body fat”.
Critics say medicalising obesity by framing it as a disease rather than a consequence of behaviour, can be counterproductive, making people feel helpless about changing their lifestyles.
Dr Max Pemberton, a psychiatrist, said it “takes away personal responsibility and places it with doctors”. Comparing it to alcoholism and smoking, he said it was part of a wider trend to medicalise aspects of our life – turning individual decisions into a disease.
He said: “People who are overweight and want to lose weight should be met with compassion and support.
“But we can be kind and caring to people who are struggling without claiming they have a disease. Disease suggests there is an inevitability when it does not have to be that way.”
Dr Steele added: “Fatphobia runs very deep in our culture, and it’s inextricably linked with classism, sexism, racism and other structures of oppression.”