Eating Disorders - do people realize how fat they are and just like it that way?

The opposite of this question:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/;_y...

Should obesity be regarded as an eating disorder rather than it being seen as too much temptation on the supermarket shelves mixed with a lack of deep-seated self-esteem or whatever other issues is causing the obese person to turn to food for comfort?
They reckon 1 in 3 could be obese in the UK not too far from now and the US is not far behind, if not ahead. Would more people be prepared to address their eating behaviours if it was treated as a mental coping mechanism?
I know that if i were to be obese i would definitly not be happy with my body. But i smoke and drink coca cola. My coping mechanisms. :-)

Just like, give the anorexics a break. I bet obesity costs the NHS a lot more than all the other 'eating disorders' combined!

Ps. i'm not anorexic or obese.

Comments on answers so far: I really do not mean to uposet or judge people that are adressing their obesity as one of the issues in their life. But if anorexics passed on their condition to their children as obese people do they would have their children taken away. Many obese just refuse to adress issues that firstly are causing the obesity or secondly resulting from the obesity.
Also, i am aware of the thyroid patients. If i had an underactive thyroid i would have a t-shirt printed that read: I HAVE AN UNDERACTIVE THYROID - WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE??" Seriously, it would help towards taking the tabboo out of obesity.

No one wants to be fat. Anoerexics want to be thin. That, in my opinion, is the main difference in the eating disorders.
People don't eat because they're hungry. They eat because they have a deep psychological need for food - well, most of us anyway. Some of us eat out of boredom.
It is this primeval need that is the seat of the problem and until that gets addressed, diet clubs just get richer.
Inside every fat person is a person who actually wants to be popular, healthy, thin, beautiful and loved. It is the reality that makes them eat.

Some people have thyroid problems ya know. It's not totally their fault.

You must not have done much research on this because obesity is an eating disorder compared to OCD. A morbidly obese person can actually get disability for their medical problem. I don't know that obesity would cost the NHS more than the others combined because getting bulimics and anorexics to change is quite a challenge. What upsets me is that the people on SSA with Medicare HAVE to stay overnight in the hospital to have lapband surgery where other insurances only consider it outpatient. So the Medicare patient has to come up with the $952 deductible before they can even have the surgery. Surgery which would correct their problems, cut down on their medical costs, and have less complications than gastric bypass surgery.

I have a friend who is obese. She grew up in an unloving home and her ste father molested her when she was a young teenager. She is very well aware of her eating disorder and her obesity. She is constantly depressed because of it. But when she gets depressed, she turns to food. It's a visious cycle. I have never seen her so happy than when she had decided to have her stomach stapled. Then she was informed that her insurance wouldnt pay for it because it wasn't a health issue. Mind you my friend has a heart condition and bone spurs because she is so heavy.

maybe they hate themselves and eat more for the comfort. it's probably a self-perpetuating cycle.

Yeah yeah...shut up fatty fatty fat fat !

This is a very sad situation. It's easy for people like you who probably have never been overweight in your life to criticise. It is not just about them stuffing their faces all day just because they love food, there is always deep rooted mental problems. Whether you are overweight or skeletal, everyone deserves compassion and help.

another really big factor is depression medication, it severely alters hormones, making most of the people that take them so obese that the medication causes Cushing's Syndrome and diabetes, in fact there is a new study that proves taking SSRIs causes breast cancer due to the drug causing cells to divide and multiply at an astounding rate, having that many additional cells makes you bigger, adult women on anti-depressants have a 700% increased chance for breast cancer, and the adverse effects are permanent