Keeping fit 'good for the planet'
Keeping fit and maintaining a healthy body weight is good for the environment
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Monday, 20, Apr 2009 08:04
Keeping fit and maintaining a healthy body weight is good for the environment, research claims.
A report published in the International Journal of Epidemiology suggests because food production is such a major contributor to global warming, a lean population, will consume almost 20 per cent less food and produce fewer greenhouse gases than a population in which 40 per cent of people are obese.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said transport-related emissions would also be lower as it takes less energy to transport slim people.
They estimate that a lean population of 1 billion people would emit 1.0 GT (1,000 million tonnes) less carbon dioxide equivalents per year compared with a fat one.
"When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler," the authors write.
"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. Staying slim is good for health and for the environment. 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."
Average body mass index (BMI) is rising in almost every country in the world at present.
Between 1994 and 2004 the average male BMI in England increased from 26 to 27.3, with the average female BMI rising from 25.8 to 26.9.