Obesity Must Not Be Classified As A Disability Say AMA

doctors would not be allowed to freely discuss obesity problems with patients

A row has broken out in America after advocacy groups started lobbying the Federal government to officially define the obesity condition as a registered disability in the same way that other mobility disabilities are defined.

The American Medical Association has issued a formal statement saying that they oppose this categorisation of obesity as a disability because it will mean that doctors would not be allowed to freely discuss obesity problems with their patients.

Some obese individuals say that they find it offensive when their doctors always insist on them losing weight and prefer that their doctors say nothing. If their obesity can be classified as a disability it technically means that there is nothing they can do about it and therefore the doctor has no right to tell them to lose weight.

The American Medical Association also said that doctors who insisted on telling their obese patients to lose weight would be opening themselves up to lawsuits from these patients who felt discriminated against.

At Ukmedix News we can see both sides of the argument.  Obesity is a disability in a sense, but it is important that people do not think that there is nothing they can do about it. An obesity problem can always be beaten and it is important that people do not become fatalistic about it. Classifying obesity as a disability would imply that it is somehow permanent and that it is there to stay.

Doctors are extremely important in the battle against obesity and they often manage to persuade obese people about the dangers of their condition and help them to reform their eating habits and get exercise.  If doctors feel that they cannot give clear evidence based medical advice to obese men and women because of legal implications the likelihood of their patients not losing weight and staying obese is significantly increased.