Refutation of “Obesity is Not a Disease”

The author’s position is that obesity is not a disease because he believes it can be avoided by managing eating habits and exercise alone.  Our position is that obesity is a disease, and the author’s argument is flawed because:

• his tone (overly sarcastic and angry) affects his credibility.  It is difficult to take him seriously.
• he contradicts himself in his definition of a disease.
• his use of the term “Big Brother” makes him sound like a raving lunatic.  Paranoid much?
• he infers that there will be no personal accountability, but the only way to succeed in conquering weight problems long-term is the incorporation of lifestyle changes and action.
• he refutes scientific data without including any of the statistics.
• he uses no data to strengthen his own argument.
• he doesn’t give clear examples of fast food restaurants who are allegedly perpetuating the obesity problem.
• He generalizes, ignoring medical causes for obesity.
• He stereotypes often, assuming that all obese people are regular consumers of fast food.
• he never reveals a credible source in the text of the essay.
• he doesn’t seem to have a clear audience or impetus for writing, he’s just ranting.
• he seems to believe that there is no social responsibility held by the government or corporations.  His decision to side with corporations alienates a large potential audience.
• he claims to understand the motivation of American consumers without research.
• he uses melodramatic phrases, like the standalone paragraph that reads “Nonsense.”

Overall, we believe that this argument is nothing more than a rant, similar to what we would read on a blog.  We don’t think it deserves credit for anything more, because any true research he did isn’t apparent at any point in the article.

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