With obesity now affecting 29% of the population in England, and expected to rise to 35% by 2030, should we now recognise it as a disease? Obesity, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be adversely affected, meets the dictionary definition of disease, argues Professor John Wilding. He points out that more than 200 genes influence weight. “Thus body weight is strongly influenced by biology—it is not an individual’s fault if they develop obesity.” Yet the widespread view is that obesity is self-induced and that it is entirely the individual’s responsibility to do something about it. Recognising obesity as a chronic disease with severe complications rather than a lifestyle choice “should help reduce the stigma (耻辱) and discrimination experienced by many people with obesity,” he adds.

       Professor Wilding disagrees that labelling a high proportion of the population as having a disease removes personal responsibility or may overwhelm health services, pointing out that other common diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, require people to take action to manage their condition. He suggests that most people with obesity will eventually develop complications. “But unless we accept that obesity is a disease, we are not going to be able to tackle it,” he concludes.

        But Dr. Richard Pile, a physician with a special interest in diabetes, argues that adopting this approach “could actually result in worse outcomes for individuals and society.” He believes that the dictionary definition of disease “is so vague that we can classify almost anything as a disease” and says the question is not whether we can, but whether we should, and to what end.

        If labelling obesity as a disease was harmless then it wouldn’t really matter, he writes. But labelling obesity as a disease “risks reducing autonomy, disempowering and robbing people of the intrinsic (内在的) motivation that is such an important enabler of change.” What’s more, making obesity a disease “may not benefit patients, but it will benefit healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical (制药的) industry when health insurance and clinical guidelines promote treatment with drugs and surgery,” he warns.

解析：C。根据题干中的Professor John Wilding可定位至文章第一、二段。第一段第二句中提到，肥胖是指体内多余的脂肪积累到对健康造成不利影响的程度，怀尔丁教授称这符合字典中对疾病的定义（meets the dictionary definition of disease），也就是说他认为肥胖是一种疾病，第三句中他又指出，影响体重的基因（genes）超过200个，体重受到生理因素的严重影响（strongly influenced by biology）。C项中a genetic disease是对第一段二、三句内容的概括总结，故为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用文章第一段中的affecting和expected to rise进行干扰，但文章是说肥胖影响了英国29%的人口，预计到2030年这一人口比重将上升到35%，并不是说对社会的影响会上升，故排除A项。B项利用第一段第四句中的widespread进行干扰，但原文中说的是普遍的观点（widespread view）是肥胖是自己造成的，这并不是怀尔丁教授的观点，故B项错误。D项利用第一段第二句中的dictionary definition进行干扰，但文中并未提到字典中对肥胖的定义应该更新，故D项错误。