Obesity killing the planet, researchers say

Staying slim is good news for the environment as it helps to keep our planet healthy. Food output is directly linked to global warming, and a leaner population will consume almost 20 percent less food, a new study has found. Slim people will also produce fewer greenhouse gases than an obese population.

The study was conducted by Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Transport-related emissions will also be lower because it takes less energy to transport slim people.

Edwards and Roberts estimated that a lean population of one billion would emit 1,000 million tonnes less carbon dioxide equivalents per year compared to an obese one.

In nearly every country, average body mass index (BMI) is rising, that is people are becoming fatter and heavier, said a London school release.

“When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler,” said the authors. “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,” researchers said.

“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,” they concluded.

The study appeared in the International Journal of Epidemiology.