Obesity is a disease
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By definition, obesity is a disease
Disease - 'a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.'
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Context
Obesity affects many of our organs including our hearts, gallbladders and livers. It produces symptoms like chest pain, sleep apnea, gallbladder problems, clogged arteries and veins, and poor liver function.
The Argument
In the above definition, a disease is a condition with symptoms not activated by injury. While obesity can cause injury, it is not an injury in and of itself. Therefore, by this definition obesity is a disease.
Counter arguments
Obesity is very serious and should be treated with importance, but it does not fit into the definition of a disease. A disease is "a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury."[1] As obesity is the result of lifestyle choices, rather than being a disorder, it cannot be classified as a disease.
Premises
[P1] Considering the amount of health issues (and even deaths) obesity causes, it should be classified as a disease.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] If we are going by the definition of a disease, obesity is not one.