Last June, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to classify obesity as a disease in its own right, rather than simply the precursor to other illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. This means nearly one in three Americans have a medical condition that requires treatment.
This new ‘disease’ classification means that people can seek help for obesity itself and also means that medical professionals will be remunerated for their time spent treating obesity.
According to a study by Duke University, treatment of obesity-related diseases costs US$150bn (€110bn, £90bn) a year in the US – a figure that’s expected to rise to US$550bn (€400bn, £330bn) in the next 20 years. Although the financial impact of lifestyle diseases has long been acknowledged, recognition of obesity as a disease could result in greater investment by government and the private sector to both develop and reimburse obesity treatments offered by wellness and spa practitioners as well as fitness facilities.
But could it also lead to a rush of drugs to market, over-prescribing, more surgical procedures and people handing over responsibility for their lifestyles to the medical profession?
Will this new classification mean a rise in status for the spa, wellness and fitness industry, with healthcare providers seeking to work more closely with them to prescribe exercise? Or will it take it further away, confining treatment to the medical sector? Might people increasingly expect the solution to come from a pill from the doctor rather than having to get active?
Obesity is certainly a complicated subject and significantly more research is needed to help with its treatment. A study by Memorial University in Newfoundland, for example, found that 5 per cent of the population could be addicted to food.
The UK’s National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence (NICE) declined to comment, but will other countries follow the AMA’s lead? We ask some experts.
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