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：D。根据题干中的Dr. Richard Pile’s concern和classifying obesity as a disease可定位至原文最后一段。该段承接上段派尔博士的观点，第二句提到，给肥胖贴上疾病的标签可能会降低人们的自主权、使人感到无力、剥夺人们的内在动力，而这种内在动力是推动变革的重要因素。接着又说将肥胖疾病化可能不会使病人受益，而使医疗服务机构和制药行业受益。D项是对此内容的概括总结，其中的do little good to patients是对原文最后一段中may not benefit patients的同义替换，故D项为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用原文最后一段中的disempowering and robbing people of the intrinsic (内在的) motivation进行干扰，但文章是说给肥胖贴上疾病的标签可能使人感到无力、剥夺人们的内在动力，这是指对心理的影响，并不是指生活质量（quality of life），故A项错误。B项的spread of obesity在原文中无依据，故排除。C项利用a shortage of doctors与原文第二段中overwhelm health services的相关性进行干扰，但这是大众担心，并非派尔博士的担心，故C项排除。