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The Big Fat Truth
Is Obesity a Disease?
By Carma Haley Shoemaker
But is obesity a disease, just as diabetes or cancer? Does it take its toll on its victims? Does it change the aspect and quality of life? Should those that suffer be offered the same types of help and medical treatment as the thousands who suffer from other ailments recognized by the standard medical community?
Some say yes.
The IRS
On April 2, 2002, the IRS announced a new policy (IRS Ruling 202-19) that clearly states, "Obesity is medically accepted to be a disease in its own right." For taxpayers, this means that treatment specifically for obesity can now be claimed as a medical deduction. In addition, the IRS report says, "Uncompensated amounts paid by individuals for participation in a weight-loss program as treatment for a specific disease or diseases – including obesity – diagnosed by a physician are expenses for medical care that are deductible." Social Security Administration
Printed in the Federal Register (65 Fed. Reg. 31039) the Social Security Administration (SSA) states that obesity "is a complex, chronic disease characterized by excessive accumulation of body fat." Obesity is generally the result of a combination of factors (e.g. genetic, environmental and behavioral), and the judgment of a physician who has examined the claimant is generally relied on to establish obesity. Furthermore, the SSA acknowledges the condition of obesity to be severe enough for disability when it significantly limits an individual's physical or mental abilities to do basic work activities, or in the case of children, when it causes more than a minimal functional limitation. Want to see more?
- Plan Early to Head Off Obesity: 10 Tips for Daily Physical Activity
- Obesity Insights: 7 (Sometimes Surprising) Secrets for Stopping Childhood Obesity
- What's Eating Our Kids: An Emotional Component to Obesity?
- Controlled Infant Feeding and the Obesity Link: Should Parents Restrict How Much Their Baby Eats?
- Join the discussion on our Family.com community!
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