The whole world has recently faced the epidemics of obesity, of course, if we recognize this state as a physical condition. The American Medical Association tried to implement a new approach to overweight, however, such a step is likely to change the healthcare industry and pharmaceutical business – and perhaps, not for the best.
Apparently, healthcare organizations are not very much concerned about the alternative way to name obesity. Approaching the excess weight as a chronic disease will certainly oblige therapists to prescribe some aggressive treatment. The pharmaceutic market will grow and prosper merely with their anti-obesity drugs. Such strategy looks favorable to those who want to quickly diminish overall rates of obesity in the world. On the other hand, treating obesity as the flu or inflammation can be unsafe.
The uncertainty starts from the moment of diagnosing. It is still unclear where the excess weight shall begin. According to the measure of Body Mass Index, a normal weight may be counted by the correlation between height and weight. However, scientists cannot prove how the slight deviation from the norm prescribed in this formula can harm individuals. In the long run, excess weight contributes to diabetes and cardiovascular disease but slight overweight can cause no impairment on the function of the body. From this perspective, the necessity of treating obesity with drugs is doubtful.
The other obvious drawback of defining obesity as a disease is the need to include it into insurance programs. Insurers and governments will certainly stand under a huge financial pressure of treating obesity in the majority of their clients.