Obesity is a physiological condition characterized by excessive accumulation of body fat, particularly the accumulation of adipose tissue under the skin. In recent years, the number of people diagnosed with clinical obesity has increased dramatically, with governments desperately trying to address the obesity epidemic and its associated consequences (McLannahan and Clifton, 2008). Studies have found that the prevalence of obesity was once estimated at 9.8% (Kelly, Yang, Chen, Reynolds & He, 2008), a considerable figure representing nearly 400 million individuals worldwide. Although obesity is now recognized as a major problem, the number of people affected is increasing rapidly, with nearly 300,000 deaths attributable to obesity each year in the United States (Allison, Fontaine, Manson, Stevens, & VanItallie, 1999). Excessive amounts of fat can prove dangerous as the condition has a very high comorbidity rate with other long-term health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer (Pi-Sunyer, 1993). Numerous examples of media, medical journals, and educational literature regarding obesity refer to this condition as a disease, with increasing use of the word “epidemic” to describe the fairly recent surge in obesity cases in Western societies (Boer, 2007). The available material is scarce and offers evidence that obesity meets the specifics of the disease. Instead, it has been proposed that obesity is alternatively a risk factor for the development of other potentially harmful diseases, influenced by a variety of other factors, for example genetics, cultural ideals and biological impairments. According to Boores (1977) disease is defined as; "A type of internal state that can be an impairment... focus of the article... ain: gluttony or laziness?.BMJ: British Medical Journal, 311(7002), 437.Prentice, AM, Hennig, BJ and Fulford, A. J. (2008). Evolutionary origins of the obesity epidemic: natural selection of thrifty genes or genetic drift following release and pursuit of predation, 32(11), 1607-1610.Ravussin, E. ., Valencia, M.E., Esparza, J., Bennett, P.H., & Schulz, L.O. (1994) Effects of a traditional lifestyle on obesity in Pima Indians Diabetes Care, 17(9) , 1067-1074.Wellman, N.S.,. & Friedberg, B. (2002).Causes and consequences of obesity in adults: health, social and economic impacts in the United States, Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 11(s8), S705-S709.Wooley, O.W., and Wooley,.(1982)., 1(3), 57-69.