Disease or Disorder?
While disorder is a derangement or abnormality of function; a morbid physical or mental state, a disease is defined as a definite pathological process having a characteristic set of signs and symptoms. A disease may affect the whole body or any of its parts, and its etiology, pathology, and prognosis may be known or unknown.
Obesity a Disease
The three essential characteristics of disease: (a) an impairment of the normal functioning of some aspect of the body; (b) that has characteristic signs or symptoms; and (c) results in harm or morbidity to the entity affected. Obesity meets these 3 conditions. Thus, recognizing obesity as a disease is the need of the hour.
Initiatives by UDF
AMA has already recognized Obesity as a chronic disease; project ROAD aims at creating awareness at multiple levels in India. Obesity is killing the world; and this isn’t any exaggeration. The most common diseases linked to obesity include Cancer, Infertility, Back pain, Arthritis, Diabetes, Stroke and Heart diseases.