The Road to Hell
High rates of obesity in the wealthier western nations causes up to 1 billion extra tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year than countries with leaner populations, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology (not our usual bedtime read by the way). So, and as researcher Phil Edwards from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine says, staying slim is “good for your health and for the health of the planet”. A fatter population needs 19% food energy for energy requirements and creates emissions from additional car use – both because the car is used more and because the weight transported is heavier. Researchers calculated obese populations generate anything bewteen an additional 0.4 billion to 1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases each year (almost 4% when looking at the 2007 global total figure of 27 billion tonnes). Last year the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said consumers should begin to reduce their meat intake with a meat free day because meat production causes 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.