400 Million Obese People Responsible For Global Warming!

If you are obese, you are probably more responsible for global warming than you ever thought. And your contribution to global warming is really serious and very, very significant because 400,000,000 of you are obese, a newly published research finding claims!

Your often too generous uptake of food and fuel for transport is actually placing a great strain on already depleting world resources, according to some British researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

This may be too warm to handle… The finding adds that what compounds the weighty problem is that obese and overweight people require more fuel to transport them and the food they eat, and the problem will worsen as the population literally swells in size, adding to food shortages and higher energy prices.

By 2015, 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese, according to current World Health Organization (WHO) projections.

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In the research paper published today in The Lancet, UK’s independent general medical journal, Phil Edwards PhD, Lecturer in Statistics and Ian Roberts PhD, Professor of Epidemiology say obese people contribute to global warming by walking or cycling less, fueling the demand for oil whose production process and usage we all know in relation to global warming.

Local authorities should therefore consider urban transport policies that are sustainable - decreased car use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the need for biofuels. Less food consumption will also be achieved, reducing global demand for and the price of food.

Based on the researchers’ model, nearly 40 percent of the global population is obese with a body mass index (BMI) of about 30 in comparison with normal levels of between 18 and 25.

It was found that obese people require 1,680 daily calories to sustain normal energy and another 1,280 calories to maintain daily activities, 18 percent more than someone with a stable BMI.

Because thinner people eat less and are more likely to walk than rely on cars, a slimmer population would lower demand for fuel for transportation and for agriculture which is responsible for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Hmm… some food for thought!

Further reading: The Lancet: Transport Policy is Food Policy (registration required)

Image credit: Mr TGT via Flickr under Creative Commons

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