Obesity as a cause of global warming?

That pesky obesity thing. First it forced Disneyland to increase the sizes of its theme-park costumes, and hospitals to buy larger hoists and beds. Now, in a letter published Friday in the medical journal Lancet, two scientists write that obese people are disproportionately responsible for high food prices and greenhouse gas emissions because they consume 18% more food energy due to their greater body mass -- and require increased quantities of fuel to transport themselves and the food they eat. "Promotion of a normal distribution of BMI would reduce the global demand for, and thus the price of, food," write the authors, Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts of the evocatively named London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

We don't imagine Edwards and Roberts wrote their letter to be mean -- their point seems to be that it would be good for various reasons if urban policies worked to promote biking and walking -- and we haven't yet heard of mobs with torches roving the streets in search of those with BMIs of 30 or above. Nonetheless, Yale University has been quick with a news release urging "caution on obesity and climate change link."

Declares Kelly Brownell, director of the university's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, "Saying that obese people are contributing to climate change is highly stigmatizing and assigns blame to the individuals who are obese rather than the conditions driving the obesity in the first place." Things, he says, like junk food marketing aimed at children, the demise of P.E. programs, behemoth portions offered up in restaurants, more.

I guess, too, we could always point a finger at those lean people we all know who have such high, wasteful metabolisms they can eat what they want, lift not a finger yet stay skinny as a rake. And how can I defend a friend of mine who consumes thousands of calories so he can get on his bicycle and go for 100-mile rides -- only to end up at the very same place he started from, only hungrier? (And by the way, he drives a car -- five miles -- to work.)

--Rosie Mestel

photo credit: Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[BobbyS]

I have the answer: Fat people should pay a taxation loading Yep. For every point a person's weight exceeds their normal Body Mass Index (25), tax them one percentage point more. That should solve the global warming problem. We could have an annual weighing day on the last day of the financial year.

[Mrs. Bennett]

I know someone who had a condition where food did not digest in her system. She could have pancakes for breakfast on monday and weds they would still be able to tell they were pancakes in her system. Tell me she was responsible for being overweight. As a woman of 36 years old with 5 children and still weighing in at less than 120 pounds, I guess I am one of those with a "wasteful high metabolism" yet I only eat snacks through the day ( granola bars, chips, and fruit} while my husband is at work. He comes home to dinner prepared for him by me and we eat together. Global warming is not due to fat people. Global warming is not due to population persay. But I would agree with the excess fuel consumption of our global population as a whole. As a responsible family we only drive when we NEED to. We have 1 day a week we do all our "Outings" garage sales, junk stores, etc. We drive a car that gets 40+ mpg and use our other car only for things that need to be done while he is at work. So if people would use more sense about driving ( obey the speed limit, don't go out unless you have to during rush hours, get all your errands done in one trip, etc.) the cost of fuel as a global economy would not be so high. Quit laying the blame on a group of people. TAKE RESPONSIBILTY. It is everyone's job to be frugal with resources not just one group. If you want to stop or slow down global warming be responsiblefor your part in it, otherwise shut up and get over it.

[Robert Therrien]

I fail to understand why your paper chooses to print such idiotic staements from every quack that wants their 10 minutes of fame.
Did they take into account that some obese people process food better than others and can be obese on the same amount of food that others use just to live?
How about those with thyroid desease?
How about those that grow their own food?
These and more facts could have been learned if they were not out on their jet skies or boats burning fuel, or towing that big trailer that they just went camping in.
So when was the last time they actualy shared a ride to work with someone else and saved a tank of gas a week by doing that.
Oh and lets not forget that FAT (obese people) probably emit more methane gas than normal people so we should exterminate them along with all the cows.
Lets not blame the large chimmney smoke stacks billowing huge amounts of pollutants, or the mulitude of volcanoes that erupted, or the south American countries burning 100's of acres of rain forest every day.
No these idiots are right! It's all the obese peoples fault!

[jb3]

The real underlying problem is O-V-E-R-P-O-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N. Everyone is afraid to talk about it because of religion, without which, the world could educate itself about, and extricate itself from, its true problems. STOP BREEDING, PEOPLE!

[ROBERT BRAUN]

COME ON NOW LETS FILE THIS CRAP ABOUT FAT PEOPLE AND GET DOWN TO REAL LIFE TODAY WE ARE IN DEEP CRAP ARE YOU BLAMING FAT PEPOLE FOR THE PRICE OF OIL AND GAS COME ON GET WITH IT PEPLE THE WORLD IS IN TRUBLE STOP THIS FOOLISH BICKERING.

[islander1]

This is a very big problem. Almost as important, however, is the necessity of looking at the problem from a wider angle. Our big-boned brethren should be entitled to tax breaks. By consuming more, they are injecting much needed cash into the economy and as any thinking person knows, a robust economy will - if rightly grounded in free-market Hayekian principles - eventually solve any subsidiary worries.

[Byron Cells]

Food isn't the only thing making people fat -- don't forget about the ever-easily-ignorable alcohol calories! Where's my liquor at?

[Ed Welsh]

I do not know who thought of this idea, but I think they should lay off the booze. It's effecting their brains.

[los angeles]

all things being equal...

overweight people do consume more food, need more energy or fuel to move, require more upkeep because there is more risk.

I am making generalizations and yes there are normal or thin people who can also be disproportionately responsible. But lets get down to the bare bones -

Overweight people are simply hurting themselves and in some sense taking more than their fair share.

But if its that chemical sticky cheese your taking off the shelves, go right ahead because I know thats not good for me... Ill pass

Make the commitment to live life well.

[Ken]

obese people are DISPROPORTIONATELY responsible for high food prices and greenhouse gas emissions because they consume 18% more food energy due to their greater body mass -- and require increased quantities of fuel to transport themselves and the food they eat.

Hey, it's the word "disproportionately". But the fact is that the global increase, annually, in our population, obese or not, is what is causing the global increase in CO2 annually. The data are clear! A statistical plot of the two since at least 1959 shows a correlation coefficient of 99.85%...almost perfect. Too many people on the planet using too much energy in all kinds of things.

[Matt]

Oh I see how it is. I'm not allowed to be fat, but rich people can still drive SUVs that get 9 mpg and drive up the cost of fuel. Hey! You'll pry my Twinkie out of MY COLD DEAD FINGERS!

[Matt]

What about people who commute daily?

I suspect that the energy footprint of someone who's obese, but only commutes 15 minutes either way to work has a much lower energy footprint than someone who's physically fit and commutes 45 minutes or more either way.

[ricecake]

Once upon a time Dinosaur were ramping ravaging the earth they ate and ate and ate every thing. Then the earth changed and Dinosaur were all extinct. Would it be possible the humans are trending towards becoming human-osaur? Many of us are blow up bigger and bigger? The difference between Dinosaur and human-osaur is that dinosaur were all hard muscle and they exercised a lot, the human-osaur are not at all, almost.

[julie]

I feel it for Phelicia, but being fat is not just genetics. It takes generations of bad eating for people to get like that. I met this big woman once who told me that because her parents and grandparents did not know how to eat properly, and lived near a polluted area, that her health and her brother's health had been compromised to the point that they decided never to have children (she was over 40 when I talked to her). This is serious stuff. In the other hand, I recently read an article that said that there are not enough fruit and vegs to feed all americans as they should. Last, as Marion Nestle says in her book "Food Politics", there is less profit to make from unprocessed foods, and in a way, junk foods are as nutritious as SUVs are efficient. The sad thing is that poor people eat poorly because of this system, and once they get sick, they are depleted off their money through pharmaceuticals. I don't believe this is a matter of choice, but of the excessive propaganda, planned sense of freedom even though they do exactly as they are told by the TV and lobbyists. It is really terrible. It does seem cruel that these exploited people are now to blame on climate change, as true as that may be.

[A. K. Bear]

Fat people cause global warming? Hardly! It is all those exercise-conscious people!

What happens when you exercise?

1) You burn calories, which produce heat! This heat escapes into the atmosphere and causes global warming!
2) You use up oxygen and expel CO2! A greenhouse gas!

Nice try, I'm not falling for this one!

[Drew]

What is all this global warming talk about anyway. I already know that the major, if not only cause of global warming is MOTORCYCLES. The more motorcycles I see the hotter it gets, the less I see the colder it gets.. LETS BAN ALL MOTORCYCLES

[Jeni Hendrix]

People who think this study makes no sense ARE OBVIOUSLY OBESE THEMSELVES!! GET HELP!! LOST WEIGHT!!

Calorie consumption aside, Obese people are FAT & LARGE, their clothes are BIGGER THAN AVERAGE, and it probably takes more gas to power their cars because THEY CARRY MORE WEIGHT. Also, they probably drive more than normal sized people, who are healthy enough to walk more.

And at least Tall people were born tall. You people weren't born Obese! It's gross!! It's sooooooo unhealthy!! GO THE GYM!! RUN AROUND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD!! STOP EATING FAST FOOD!! EAT A SALAD!! YOU CAN DO IT!! I THINK OBESE PEOPLE NEED TO PAY AN OBESITY TAX BECAUSE YOU SUCK UP THE ECONOMY WITH YOUR CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS!!

[Morgan]

Without making rash generalizations like "all obese people" or overstated hyperbole, most obese people DO use more food and require more energy to get around. Yes, some obese people are "healthy," in that they have low blood pressure, cholesterol, and so on. And yes, some thin people have horrendous diets and spend zero time exercising. But the bottom line is that it requires more energy to move more mass. Simple physics. Science. The same way if you regularly consume more calories than you burn, chances are you'll gain weight. Are there anomalies in the latter equation? Sure. Some obese people just cannot lose weight, and some thin ones have trouble gaining. Our bodies are complex and can be unpredictable...

However, the problem at the root of the issue is more about our American sense of entitlement. If I can afford to drive my SUV to the TGIFriday's/Ruby Tuesday's/Chili's/etc. and eat as much as I want, it's my right, damn it! We want our portions large... gotta make sure we get our money's worth! Kudos to the poster who mentions High Fructose Corn Syrup; it's been a terrific way to make sure food production is as profitable as possible. And moreover, obesity rates have skyrocketed since then. More so than when mom stayed home and cooked with lard. More people now live a sedentary lifestyle. Fewer labor manually. Thanks to cheap gas (Yes, cheap. Look at the rest of the developed world.) we have miles and miles of sprawl necessitating a car. Rather than a cause, I would posit that obesity epidemic is an indicator of a larger problem: the sense of entitlement. We "deserve" to treat ourselves. Our children "deserve" trips to McDonalds--and the quality time with their parents those trips afford.

The journal article (and articles in scientific journals are subject to more scrutiny than the editorial page, by the way) isn't saying "fat people are to blame for global warming." It does say that the obese contribute to it, and I would agree. Are there other causes? Sure. Do I myself contribute to global warming? Sure. I try to minimalize my impact, but I know that materials/foodstuffs need to get shipped. People need electricity. People need water. But much like a family of 18 (!) uses a disproportionate amount of resources, so do many Americans, fat or thin. Overeating is just one piece of the puzzle. If more people made a responsible decision to take more care in what/when/how they eat, it would have a positive effect on local economies and the environment. But then again that would imply that we engage in the wholly un-American act of sacrifice...

[A.W.Hill]

These two need a real job.

[Middle Bear]

Funny to see the self-righteous "thin" Americans pointing fingers at the obese. Evey American, on average, is an order of magnitude more responsible for global warming than other residents of planet earth. We comprise 5% of the Earth's population but burn 25% of the Earth's oil. The personification of "moron" is a rich thin American driving an SUV pointing fingers at the obese for global warming. Stunning comments, folks.

[ChrisH]

Global warming is the biggest waste of time ever. It doesn't exist. You people just feel so unfulfilled that you aren't contributing to the good of humanity/planet so you find ways to instantly feel gratified. It's cool if you flick your lights off or drive a hybrid (which I do but purely for economic reasons,) but don't let this get overboard.

For every possible mini instance that you could find "large" people hurting the environment, there is also equally good situations where they help it. This is a silly waste of time, I can't wait until we're worried about some other world ending problem (like the ozone layer or acid rain!!!)

[Demi]

Okay, can we worry about this instead:
If we don't do something to prevent any higher climb in climate change in the very near future, NONE OF US will have the privelage to be here to debate about whether obese people vastly contribute to global warming or not; global warming's potential drastic effects does not descriminate!

[Rob Spooner]

"David" remarked that we clearly need to keep people in the third world starving. I think it was supposed to be sarcastic. Unfortunately, we have six-odd billion people. The globe does not produce, and probably cannot produce, enough food for all of them to have a well rounded diet as the USDA would prescribe, not to mention the sort of culinary variety that people look for when they get more money. As more people rise up the economic ladder, they are going to want "better" and less efficient diets. The people who are going to get really screwed are those at the bottom.

I'm sure that there are some good medical reasons for obesity, but having been to India and Europe, it's interesting that these medical issues tend to be concentrated in the United States and in the present generation.

[Dookie]

These comments demonstrate the staggering capacity for Americans to blame other people for their problems - I'm talking specifically about all the fat people who refuse to accept the results of this study. Let's face it, this is only telling us what we already know but is too politically incorrect to say - most fat people are taking more than they put into society.

I've lost count of the fat people I've met who blame everything and everyone else for their size, claim they don't eat much and yet every mealtime or every time someone brings food into the workplace they take 3 helpings when everyone else have 1. Its just hypocrisy. If people want to be obese that's up to them, but they should pay higher medical bills and extra airline fares for the seats that have to be expanded to accomodate there disgusting flapping bottoms.

[James]

C'mon, it's not about what is actually causing global warming nor is it about what makes people fat. It's actually simply stating the obvious, if you're obese, you consume more all around. Consumption is what kills us. FAT = > consumption. Period.