Staying Slim Helps The Planet, Study

“Staying slim is good for the planet, according to two UK researchers who concluded that because food production has a big impact on global warming, a lean population such as that of Vietnam will eat nearly 20 per cent less food and produce fewer greenhouse gases than populations where 40 per cent of people are obese (close to that of the United States today). The study was conducted by Drs Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts of the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and appears in the advanced access April 19 issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology. Edwards and Roberts concluded that: ‘The maintenance of a healthy BMI has important environmental benefits in terms of lower greenhouse gas emissions.’ They said that: ‘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,’ they added. Keeping slim is good for both health and the environment, they said, suggesting that: ‘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.’”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146674.php