Is global warming linked to obesity?

Obesity has been implicated as a contributor to almost every disease known (not always correctly).

Now, one blogger is suggesting that obesity actually contributes to global warming.

Here’s the logic:

* People eat in excess and get bigger
* Overweight people ride instead of walk and, thus, contribute to the greenhouse effect
* The greenhouse effect leads to more rain which causes more grass to grow
* Cows eat the grass and increase in size and number which results in lower beef prices
* Lower beef prices result in people eating more — and the cycle starts again

Obviously, this is a joke. But the logic isn’t too much worse than the explanation of how obesity contributes to 400,000 deaths per year in the US.

Recently, a researcher reviewed the rationale for this huge number and concluded that actual number is more like 26,000 deaths.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Obesity is a real problem and we should be trying to lower its incidence. I just don’t think we need to overstate the statistics in order to get obesity classified as a disease.

Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s what is happening here. See, pharmaceutical and weight-loss companies don’t get reimbursed for drugs/procedures which change appearance. Health insurance companies only want to pay for the treatment of a real disease.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness