Obesity a disease?

i need this for a class. i just need yes or no answers no explanation unless you really want to i guess :)

1. should obesity be considered a disease?
2. is there a "fat gene"?

thanks!

Obesity is considered a disease and a disability and there have been research studies that have shown that obesity can be hereditary.

Personally, I don't think obesity should be considered a disease. There's no bacteria or virus associated with it, and there's no brain problem that directly causes a person to be obese. Anorexia and other eating disorders are called diseases--and in those cases, there are actually psychological problems involved, but obesity is a side effect of over-eating...it's as simple as that. It's also easily preventable if people just had a little more self-discipline, which, here in America, we don't seem to have much of. I think people just call obesity a disease to make people feel better about themselves, like they are the victims when actually it's only their fault that they're obese.

There is a "fat gene," but people take advantage of that term. Some people actually have metabolic differences; they have inherit (genetically) slower metabolisms. Years ago, in times of famine, this would help them conserve the energy they consumed as fat. Also, some people may have over-stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (part of the brain that controls hunger, among other things), which causes them to eat all the time--always feeling hungry and never getting full. This was probably also an evolutionary mechanism to keep people eating, so they would survive and never starve.

But you hear all the time..."It's not my fault I'm fat. I don't eat that much." This is AN EXCUSE. If someone has a problem with feeling full, they need to get treatment for it. If you try hard enough, you CAN control your weight. Please don't think I'm being harsh; I just watch a lot of Discovery Health and I hate seeing morbidly obese people blaming their problems on genes when it's so obvious that they are sensitive about their laziness and bad eating habits. You can't get up to 600, 800, or 1000 pounds without eating enormous amounts of food...Sorry, but it's physically impossible.

Yes, obesity is certainly a disease.you can find the reference from the website http://www.shvoong.com/writers/neha_sg