To the Editor: I applaud the recent decision by the American Medical Association to acknowledge obesity as a disease.
By acknowledging obesity as a disease, the A.M.A. has taken an important step away from patient blame and toward patient-centered solutions.
12– 14 Although the exact pathophysiological interactions between excess weight and the clinical expression of PCOS remain to be elucidated, it is generally acknowledged that obesity itself is an independent risk factor associated with disturbances in sex-steroid metabolism, 15 insulin resistance, 10 and menstrual irregularities.
What has changed is the environment in which we live although such a perspective must acknowledge that obesity is not inevitable as not all sections of society become obese.
"I am a surgeon, and the food we have here is the food I like," he said, while acknowledging that obesity is a significant health problem.
The New York City Education Department, acknowledging that obesity is a serious problem, is reducing the fat content in meals it serves and is banning soda and sugary snacks from vending machines.
As a polite nod to the nitpickers, Guiliano acknowledges growing obesity rates in France in her new book, "French Women for All Seasons," but continues to promote traditional French dining culture.
Acknowledging that obesity is epidemic among New York City schoolchildren, the Education Department is reducing the fat content in the 800,000 meals it serves daily and banning candy, soda and other sugary snacks from school vending machines.
Susan Neely, the president of the American Beverage Association, acknowledges that obesity is a problem but says: "If you're trying to manage people being overweight you need a variety of behavior changes to achieve energy balance — it can't be done by eliminating one food from the diet".
The Bank acknowledges that obesity is part of the nutrition policy agenda [ 114], and diet-related interventions are a cost-effective way of preventing cardiovascular disease [ 9, 115].
