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Research from The Obesity Society has revealed that obese people account for about 1.6 per cent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. This is due to a combination of higher metabolic rates and the environmental impact of both producing the food and the increased fuel required to transport obese people, according to the researchers. The society used greenhouse gas emission data, demographic data, and obesity prevalence statistics to estimate that obesity is responsible for 20 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions compared with people of a normal weight.
Increasing average body size of people on Earth may further challenge attempts to reduce man-made carbon dioxide emissions, they say. ‘Our analysis suggests that, in addition to beneficial effects on morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs, managing obesity can favourably affect the environment as well,’ said Faidon Magkos, corresponding author of the paper and nutritionist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. ‘This has important implications for all those involved in the management of obesity. ‘To assess the impact of obesity on the environment, researchers calculated the extra emission of greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – from the increased oxidative metabolism, increased food production and consumption, and the increased fuel use to transport the greater body weight of people with obesity.
Researchers used the standard definitions of obesity – body mass index of greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 – and normal weight – body mass index of less than 25.Compared with an individual with normal weight, obese people were found to produce an extra 81kg per year of carbon dioxide emissions from higher metabolism, an extra 593kg per year from greater food and drink consumption and an extra 476kg per year from car and air transportation.
Globally, obesity contributes to extra greenhouse gas emissions of around 49 megatons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) – a standard unit for measuring carbon footprints – from metabolic activity alone.
But the authors urge that this new information does not lead to more weight stigmatisation, which can make overweight individuals become more vulnerable to risky behaviours such as binge eating. ‘People with obesity already suffer from negative attitudes and discrimination against them, and numerous studies have documented several prevalent stereotypes, e.g., that individuals with obesity are lazy, weak‐willed, lack self‐discipline, have poor willpower, and are noncompliant with weight loss treatments,’ the paper reads.
Nutritionist Boyd Swinburn, in the School of Population Health at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, has suggested that no one will think of stigmatising people who exercise for having a negative effect on the environment, despite physical activity also being associated with carbon dioxide production.
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