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The Big Fat Truth

Is Obesity a Disease?

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

Many people in the community either suffer from or know someone who suffers from obesity. As it affects so many, the American Obesity Association reports that the general opinion of the public is that insurance companies should consider obesity a disease and treat it accordingly.

"It is so much cheaper to cover obesity treatments than it is to treat the myriad of ailments it can cause," says Mary E. Tyler, a freelance writer from Newport News, Va. "Penny wise, pound foolish."

But some say no.

There are just as many differing insurance plans as there are providers. Just type in "insurance" in any Internet search engine and approximately 500 matches will be found. Companies are usually responsible for finding and implementing their own insurance plans based on what is available to them, the majority of which do not consider or cover obesity as a disease.

For example, a typical employer insurance plan could be similar to that of Wal-Mart. Benefits listed in Wal-Mart's employee benefits booklet (Wal-Mart Employee Benefits Manual, 2000) as "not payable for treatment or services" include charges from medications and diet supplements which result from diet programs, appetite control, weight control and treatment of obesity or morbid obesity, including gastric bypasses and stapling procedures, even if the participant has other health conditions which might be helped by the reduction of weight.

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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