News Flash: Obesity Contributes to Global Warming

No, I'm not kidding

Sheesh, as if things aren’t bad enough for fat people in this world. Among other things, they're forced to buy two seats on a plane. They take the blame for driving up the cost of medical care in this country. And now comes this news from Reuters:

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, a team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine says.This adds to food shortages and higher energy prices, the school's researchers Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts wrote in the journal Lancet on Friday.

Further on in the story comes this tidbit:

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, Edwards said. This is also important because 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions stem from agriculture, he added.

After reading this, all I could think was, “Man, someone needs a reality check.” I have to imagine that there are some more critical problems to deal with here regarding global warming, such as, you know, over-population, coal-dependent energy systems, and whether Leo DiCaprio can make everyone trade in their Hummer H2’s for Toyota hybrids.

I don’t doubt that Mr. Edwards has a semi-valid point, but to me this smacks of a game I call “It’s-Someone-Else’s-Fault.” Thankfully, I’ve never had to deal with being overweight, but I can’t imagine that it’s any fun. An obese person already has to deal with scorn, health issues, and what I’m sure is a mess of psychological issues as well. The last thing I’m going to do is blame them for global warming, especially when I just had the audacity to drive one mile for a $3 cup of coffee made from the same beans I have sitting in my kitchen.

What do you think?

Over the last decade Grant Davis has been writing and editing articles about health, fitness, and nutrition. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

PRINT THIS PAGE EMAIL THIS PAGE RSS FEED

Digg Delicious Yahoo Facebook Reddit StumbleUpon Google Newsvine Facebook Twitter

READERS COMMENTS

Oh I agree with you! People are always looking for someone to blame for their problems. Global warming is a complex issue that has many contributing factors of which obesity is one of the least. I was reading on another website where someone commented,"Think about the extra weight on planes, requiring extra gas/fuel too." Well, for one thing, few obese people fly because the seats are so cramped that it would be miserable for most of them. As it is, the seating is very uncomfortable for most people of normal weight. Plus, many obese people will not fly to spare themselves of the humiliation of having to squeeze into these very narrow seats or having to buy a second seat. So the impact of obesity on fuel costs to fly is minimal. The impact on fuel for driving is no worse than people driving around with some extra things in their cars and/or a couple of kids, etc.

The study is just another means for discrimination from people who have no clue of what it is like for someone to be obese. Contrary to what some people might think, not all overweight or obese people sit around shoveling food all day. I own a gym, do personal training and nutritional counseling. I've done this for 10 years and I've seen and heard it all. I know for a fact that many people are either overweight or obese because they have no clue of what proper nutrition and portion sizes are. Most people, overweight and slim don't have a clue of how much fat and calories are in the food they consume. They don't eat often enough throughout the day. Many only one time per day and that's usually at the end of the day when their metabolism has slowed to a snails pace because they've put themselves into starvation mode. A lot of people don't realize how bad that is. Then they go to a fast food restaurant or make a high calorie, high fat meal at home, only to go to bed a couple of hours later. Most people should eat small healthy meals, 4-6 times per day. Most overweight and obese people are very sedentary and do not exercise. We live in a very sedentary society now and people have to really make the conscientious effort to move. When you are overweight or obese, it is extremely hard. They are tired and have no energy. They may be depressed which adds to the lack of energy and enthusiasm. It's hard for them to make those critical steps.

Food is everywhere and in everything we do in our culture. It is constantly being shoved at us. Because it is such a big part of our lives and we have to eat to survive, I believe that it can be a very serious addiction for many people, and I feel it is the hardest addiction to fight. This study is ridiculous and most of all, extremely irresponsible. I think that the only thing this study will serve to create is more discrimination towards overweight people and send them into a greater state of depression then they're already in. The increasing amount of discrimination and ridicule could cause some people to become suicidal. I think that these researchers need to concentrate their efforts on creating something positive like a medication that actually works to help people to lose weight. Or work on the real problems that contribute to global warming.

Posted: May 20, 2008 AM