Fact or Ficton: Obesity is Contributing to Global Warming?
May 19, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Food and Drink, Green Health, Health, Misc., Morning News, Nutrition, Obesity
Okay, don’t shoot the messenger but the word out on the streets is that ‘obesity is to blame for global warming.’
So is there merit to this hypothesis or is it just one more way of laying a guilt trip on those who are overweight?
Let’s look at the facts.
This recent discussion relating obesity to global warming started when The Lancet published a letter by two British scientists that stated the obese population consumes 18% more food energy than the normal weight population. And as a result…
“…more transportation fuel energy will be used to transport the increase mass of the obese population, which will increase even further if, as is likely, the overweight people in response to their increased body mass choose to walk less and drive more.”
This, by the way, is not a new argument.
A couple of years ago Sheldon H. Jacobson, a University of Illinois professor, published a similar idea in an article – Economic Impact of Obesity on Automobile Fuel Consumption – in the Engineering Economist. Based on his calculations, it was taking a billion extra gallons of gas a year to transport increasingly overweight Americans.
Why?
Simple physics really – the more weight in the car, the lower the gas mileage.
But it’s more than just the transportation of increasingly heavier people that is increasing fossil fuel consumption.
The foods that people eat has also increased the amount of fossil fuel consumption. What with chemical fertilizers and food processing plus packaging and cross country shipping, the food system itself uses about a fifth of all fossil fuels consumed in America.
So if you are going to look at the issue of obesity and global warming, it’s not just people transportation at issue but also…
the food system itself that could be considered the culprit.
What to do about it?
Short of ’stop eating’, I’d suggest we start…
Ditching the car whenever we can. Try walking,cycling, and local (preferably green) transportation. This allows for not only increased exercise but also decreased dependence on fossil fuels. It’s a win/win situation for your health, the environment, and your wallet.
Eat local foods whenever possible. Head for the local farmers market (unfortunately this might not help the wallet but think of all the money you’re saving by ditching the car), create your own vegetable garden, and eat less meat.
So fact or fiction – is obesity a contributing factor to global warming?
What do you think?
Hey this was a really very nice post, I’d never thought about this. This is really something very interesting, I am sure it will reduce the effect of global warming to some extent
Id say no.
life so many scientific studies there APPEARS to be a tremendous link—but Im just not sold.
that said ditching the car? eating locally? lets do it ANYWAY and see what happens!
Id’ say this is more cow manure. Skinny ass people use up more fossil fuel trying to keep warm all winter. All of these jocks and athletes – now, they REALLY eat, so we need to all be more sedentary if you want people conserving calories. Most fat people aren’t eating appreciably more than anyone else… But the bigger issue is that the idea of human-caused planet change is the most nonsensical myth of all.
why is this getting such big woop now? I wrote about it in april…here: http://www.fatmanunleashed.com/fat-people-cause-global-warming-being-fat-isnt-very-green/
sanskar, thanks for stopping and commenting. It’s definitely food for thought but I think the connection is very minute at best…it’s interesting, though, how much conversation it is causing. I think the bigger issue is the evironmental costs of food processing and transportion.
MizFit, I’m not sold either. As Rene has commented, skinny people also use up their share of fossil fuels in different ways — increased heating, athletes eating up big — so the connection between obesity and global warming is a long shot really. It’s a conversation starter though and it helps get people thinking about food consumption and fossil fuel costs.
Rene, thanks for joining in the discussion.
Israel, must have missed your post — heading over now to check it out. And yes, I too wonder why now — it’s not a new idea…maybe it’s one of those things that’s going to keep showing up and causing discussion.
I think that’s what it is: one of those things that keeps showing up and causing discussion.
In any event, I’m not really sold, either. I think everyone should do what they need to do to keep themselves and the earth healthy, and then just enjoy life. Simple sounding, I know, but that’s how I feel about it.
Hi Alicia, thanks for stopping by. I’m a firm believer in the simply philosophies and yours sounds pretty good – individual responsibility for the health and their environment.
To the person who said “Most fat people aren’t eating appreciably more than anyone else” – thats what most fat people think. I don’t mean that to be mean. I mean that as in there was a study on obesity and most obese people thought they had healthy eating and exercise habits, though they snacked twice more a day than their thin counterparts and ate larger portions. They also all felt they exercised “vigorously” and as someone who used to be obese, I know thats almost impossible at that size.
Most researchers have concluded that the combination of an excessive nutrient intake and a sedentary lifestyle are the main cause for the rapid acceleration of obesity in Western society in the last quarter of the 20th century.
For instance, reliance on energy-dense fast-food meals tripled between 1977 and 1995, and calorie intake quadrupled over the same period. Suprisingly obesity is rising at a rapid rate too.. hmmmmm.
And if overeating isn’t the cause, why do so many people solve this problem with gastric bypass and why does it work?
From 1980 to 2002, obesity has doubled in adults and overweight prevalence has tripled in children and adolescents. Since 1980 fast food restaurants have seen dramatic growth in terms of the number of outlets and customers served. Low food costs, and intense competition for market share, led to increased portion sizes—for example, McDonalds french fries portions rose from 200 calories in 1960 to over 600 calories.
The truth of the matter is, most people don’t know a normal portion for a mean is a piece of meat the size of a deck of cards + 2 servings of either veggie or pasta and a serving is a 1/2 cup. I’ve seen what people around me are eating FOR LUNCH and its not that small and lunch is supposed to be the smaller meal.
Hi Adrienne, you are so right about the normal portions of meals — most normal servings these days are more like ’super’ servings…
Obese people get that way by eating more calories than they need – that’s extra food being transported, processed, etc.
In addition, obesity tends to be correllated with people eating more processed foods, and the processing uses energy, and there may be additional transportation of ingredients.
But it isn’t just obese people who are using more fossil fuels – I’ve been obese, and am now underweight, and I use the car at least as much, and need more heating.
We all have to change our lifestyles to combat global warming, and most of us would benefit from more exersize.
My tip would be – walk or cycle to and from the grocery store. If you have to carry it all, you’ll probrably buy less, eat less, and think more carefully about what you buy.