Is Obesity a Chronic Disease?
Sarah Price and Joseph Proietto

“There is disagreement about whether obesity should be considered a disease. Obesity is inconsistently referred to as a ‘condition’, a ‘lifestyle disorder’, a ‘risk factor for disease’, and even a ‘disease’ itself. These descriptions appear in both the popular press and scholarly articles and likely reflect the diverse and often conflicting views about obesity.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does consider obesity a serious problem. In a report published in 2000, the WHO said obesity is ‘now so common that it is replacing the more traditional public health concerns, including under-nutrition and infectious disease, as one of the most significant contributors to ill health.’ …”