obesity

If obesity were a disease, would you be more likely to seek medical help because insurance would pay for treatment? Or would you feel stigmatized and just give up? That's the debate surrounding increased efforts to classify obesity as a disease.

Lean people tend to have many more kinds of intestinal bacteria than obese people. Having too few species, regardless of your weight, appears to increase the risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

People who are overweight or obese are much more likely to switch doctors, a study finds. That may be because doctors aren't helping them address weight issues. It may compromise their medical care, because of lack of continuity and preventive medicine.

An analysis from the Centers For Disease Control and Research finds that being overweight, but not obese, is associated with lower risk of death. But no one is suggesting you ditch your exercise or diet goals.