Obesity As A Disease A National Epidemic

The Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research Fall 2008

Obesity as a Disease: A National Epidemic Brigid A. Wilson, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Health and Human Performance Whitlowe R. Green College of Education Prairie View A&M University Member of the Texas A&M University System Prairie View, Texas

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD Professor and Faculty Mentor PhD Program in Educational Leadership Hall of Honor (2008) William H. Parker Leadership Academy The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education Prairie View A&M University Member of the Texas A&M University System Prairie View, Texas Visiting Lecturer (2005) Oxford Round Table University of Oxford, Oxford, England Distinguished Alumnus (2004) College of Education and Professional Studies Central Washington University ________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to briefly discuss obesity as a disease and the prejudice associated with it. Obesity has accelerated at an alarming rate. Prejudice has developed from misguided assumptions. The article deals with obesity as a disease and the possible risks associate with it. ________________________________________________________________________

Introduction Obesity’s incidence has expediently risen at such an alarming rate over the last 2 decades that the American government took legislative action in 2000 to counteract the disease’s widespread detrimental consequences (Encinosa, Bernard, Steiner, & Chen, 2005). In 2000, the Internal Revenue Service declared that taxpayers could deduct the cost of weight-loss programs as medical expenses, including behavioral counseling, nutrition advisement, pharmacology, and surgery, if the expenses account for more than 7% of an individual’s adjusted gross income (Internal Revenue Service, 2005). Subsequently, the U.S. government officially declared obesity a disease in 2004 (Gruman, 2004). Obesity’s classification as a disease was monumental because it mandated that insurance companies had to pay for obesity-related medical visits, prescriptions, and surgeries (Hartwig & Wilkinson, 2004).

Purpose of the Article The purpose of this article is to briefly discuss obesity as a disease and the prejudice associated with it. The article focuses on dealing with obesity as a disease and the potential risks and prejudices that are associated with it. associated with it.

Governmental Actions The government’s actions have had a dramatic affect on the number of weightloss treatments that Americans may choose to utilize. For example, the number of bariatric surgical procedures performed in the United States increased from 26,700 in 2000 (Waraksa & Vinson, 2004) to over 140,000 in 2005, more than a five-fold increase (American Society for Bariatric Surgery, 2001) in just 5 years. The increased popularity of bariatric procedures is not only attributed to insurance coverage, but also to positive media publicity surrounding celebrities who have undergone the treatment (Johns Hopkins University, 2004), such as Al Roker, Carney Wilson, Sharon Osborne, and Roseanne Barr. Furthermore, bariatric surgeries have become popular because they appear to be a quick and effective method to lose weight, with the average person losing approximately 30 to 40 pounds in the year following surgery (Duke Medical Center, 2006).

Popularity of Bariatric Surgery Due to the rising popularity of bariatric surgery, it is imperative that scholars study the surgical procedure from diverse perspectives. These perspectives include physiological, psychological, and financial viewpoints. Examining Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery (RYGB), the most popular and effective form of bariatric surgery (Buchwald et al., 2004), from multiple perspectives might provide a broader, more overarching picture of how surgery affects all of these perspectives. When an individual

undergoes bariatric surgery, that individual experiences multiple lifestyle changes that need to be contended with, because bariatric surgery is not an effortless, unproblematic miracle cure for obesity (Park Nicollet Clinic, 2005).

Prejudice and the Obese Prejudice, a subjective attitude of a particular group developed preconceived, irrational convictions of another’s supposed distinctions from the (Mish, 1991), is so prevalent against overweight and obese individuals that it surprising that individuals will undertake major surgery and risk possible complications to lose excess weight (Farber, 2003).

from group is not health

Weightism or Fatism? A specific term was coined for this damaging attitude towards the obese: weightism, also known as fatism (Winfield, 2002). Weightism refers to the detrimental stereotypical beliefs many Americans possess towards overweight individuals in virtually every aspect of life (Crocker & Garcia, 2004). Weightism propagates the beliefs that obese individuals are weak-willed, ugly, unmotivated, emotionally troubled, unclean, immoral, self-indulgent, and incompetent (Schwartz & Brownell, 2004). Weightism in America is extremely common, as obese individuals experience discrimination in almost all areas of life: education, employment, social life, family relationships, housing, healthcare, public accommodations, and media exposure (Wadden, Womble, et al., 2002). Wherever the individual travels, be it work, a physician’s office, or the grocery store, the obese individual encounters weightism. Weightism is so prevalent and powerful that an obese individual’s sense of self may suffer permanent damage leading to the person’s sense of well-being becoming permanently impaired (Winfield, 2002). Obese individuals may possess a negative sense of self due to their evaluation of self in relation to societal beliefs and values, and therefore weightism exhibited by others can have tremendously detrimental psychological affects for the obese individual. The obese individual’s fragile sense of self becomes further weakened and, thus, weight often becomes an obsession for the obese individual. Weight may develop into the only subject of concern, as other personal attributes, like talent, wealth, and intelligence are discounted (Farber, 2003).

Poor Body Image and Low Self-Esteem Mental health specialists consider weight infatuation detrimental, as it leads to poor body image and low self-esteem (Fox, Taylor, & Jones, 2000). Poor body image results from an obese individual’s perception of self not correlating with the “ideal” American body image (Schwartz & Brownell, 2004). Low self-esteem occurs because individuals focus on self-perceived negative characteristics (obesity) rather than positive

attributes (Crocker & Park, 2004). Low self-esteem also occurs because individuals are unsuccessful in losing a self-specified desired amount of weight and, therefore, feel as though they are failures (Ginty, 2005). Along with poor body image and low self-esteem, other documented psychological effects of weightism include diminished self-efficacy, augmented depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal (Belluscio, 2005). Diminished self-efficacy occurs because obese individuals lose confidence in their abilities (Bandura, 1997; Crocker & Garcia, 2004). Society bombards obese individuals with negativity and reinforces an already present belief in low self-worth (Puhl & Brownell, 2003). Moreover, depression occurs when obese individuals feel defeated by weightism because the prejudicial attitude affects both their personal and professional life (Rogge, Greenwald, & Golden, 2004). These individuals are left feeling that they cannot meet anyone’s standards, including their own (Maranto & Stenoien, 2000). Some obese individuals consider their disease as a greater detriment than deafness, dyslexia, or blindness (Wadden, Womble, et al., 2002).

Concluding Remarks The purpose of this article is to brief article was to discuss obesity as a disease and the prejudice associated with it. Obesity has accelerated at an alarming rate. Prejudice has developed from misguided assumptions.

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