Obesity causes global warming, say scientists

Being overweight is bad for the environment as well as your health, according to a study released today.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that overweight people were likely to be more responsible for carbon emissions than slim people because they consume more food and fuel.

The study blamed an increased demand for livestock production for meat, believed to be responsible for 20 per cent of all greenhouse gases due to the toxic methane emitted by cows.

They added that a higher dependency on cars was also a contributing factor.

The authors, Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts, said: ‘When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler.

‘The heavier our bodies become the harder and more unpleasant it is to move about in them and the more dependent we become on our cars.

‘Staying slim is good for health and for the environment. We need to be doing a lot more to reverse the global trend towards fatness, and recognise it as a key factor in the battle to reduce emissions and slow climate change.’

The study found that ‘slim’ nations like Vietnam consume almost 20 per cent less food and so produce fewer carbon emissions than a more overweight population, such as the US, where 40 per cent are obese, the study found.

The researchers estimated that a lean population of one billion would emit 1,000million tonnes less carbon dioxide per year than a ‘fat’ nation of the same size.

In nearly every country average body mass index (BMI) is rising.

Between 1994 and 2004, the average male BMI in England increased from 26 to 27.3, while the average female BMI went up from 25.8 to 26.9 (about 3kg – or half a stone – heavier).

via Daily Mail Reporter

Isn’t this perfect? A study saying obese people are worse for the environment is perfect to pave the way for more taxes! Isn’t that wonderful! No. No longer can people live how they want to live, scientists are blaming the world’s supposed (see this post) problem of global warming. First of all, there are plenty of lightweight people with big gas guzzing cars. Also, now there is ‘justification’ for a so-called fat tax on certain ‘unhealthy’ foods. More regulations added to the already un-free market is not going to help the economy. Sales will go even more down. And the truth is that increasing public health costs push taxes up for all citizens, not just the taxes of those who caused the taxes in the first place. Should everyone pay for a few people that made different decisions? I don’t think so.