You are correct in noting that obese people are "mentally ill." They are not "diet resistant" nor do they have "slow metabolisms", PCOS, or thyroid problems.
Do you really think that 1/3 of the population is "weak-willed" or has other moral failings that means that their problem is not worthy of spending public money on? Solving the obesity epidemic is much harder than people simply becoming "better" or "choosing" to stop being obese. If this were the case less than 5% of the population would be obese.
_American_ population -- also extendable to Britain, Scottland, Germany. Not the world.
If you really think it's an epidemic, then it's a selectively first world epidemic. Like the 10 plagues. And just as ridiculous.
Calling this a "disease" or "addiction" is moronic. You want to not be fat? It's not a fucking secret how to not be fat.
Now your probably thinking "Fuck this guy". Guess what, your addicted to whatever that was. An addiction is an addiction no matter how much your religiously deny it. To call it a disease is debatable, but unimportant.
Finally, anything that Quacks like a duck and looks like a duck is a duck right? Well then if lots of people die from a thing, and it is easily linkable to obesity, than clearly treating it like a plague is justified.
Thanks for saying, but that's a little in opposition to what you said earlier (that it is a "choice"). By definition the mentally ill don't choose to be that way (and by extension neither do the obese).
I feel like we've tried and tried to address obesity with diets, but that's like trying to stop a sinking boat by bailing out water. Bailing water might keep you afloat for longer, but it doesn't plug up the leak that got you there to begin with.
Obesity is the same. Diets might keep them "afloat" for longer, but without dealing with the underlying addiction that caused the problem to begin with, you're only delaying the problem not solving it.
Which isn't to say there are easy answers, but some studies have used a combination of counseling, antidepressants, and monitoring to achieve compelling results[0]. It isn't a magic bullet however.
PS - You can either come at addicts with hate/disdain or sympathy/compassion, I choose to do the latter. "There but for the grace of God go I"
[0] https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/press-releases/2011/nih-studi...