Lose weight to save the planet

So now there is yet one more reason for the weight challenged to eat less and exercise more.  Being overweight is as bad for the environment as it is for your health.

According to CNN, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine reported on study results that showed that heavier people produced a larger carbon footprint for a variety of reasons.  Some of the factors are directly related to weight while others are indirectly related.

One of most obvious direct factors is increased fuel consumption due to the heavier load.  This applies both to individual vehicles and mass transit.  Just as it requires more fuel to transport a truck full of cargo than an empty truck, our cars, buses and trains use up more energy transporting overweight individuals.

Another factor is that heavier individuals drive more than average weight individuals.  Increased weight is hard on joints making many different activities uncomfortable or just downright painful.  If given the choice between walking with discomfort or pain and driving, the obvious choice is to drive.

An indirect factor is the carbon footprint of food production and food transportation.  Because heavier people eat more than skinny people, a higher percentage of the carbon footprint from the production and transportation of food is attributed to them.

The researchers used statistical models comparing the distribution of obese individuals from 1970’s U.K. population with the predicted percentage of obese people in the U. K. in 2010.  In 1970 only about 3.5 percent of the population was obese.  By 2010 it is expected that 40 percent of the population will be obese.

According to the researchers, 19 percent more food energy is required for a 40 percent obese population than a 3.5 percent obese population.  That means “an increase of 270 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions” because of the higher percentage of obesity.

The study gives even more reason to eat less and exercise more since you will not only improve your health but the environment’s health as well.  Sort of a two for one deal.

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