"Researchers say obesity epidemic threatens environment, and an
additional 250 million tons of greenhouse gases may be released every
year to sustain an ever more obese population.The obesity experts
condemned the letter in Lancet."

"The letter, submitted by researchers from the United Kingdom,
implicates the rising tide of obesity in greater oil consumption, more
food production -- and, ultimately, in an increase in the release of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

"It is a significant contribution," said Phil Edwards, co-author of the
letter and senior statistician at the London School of Hygiene and
Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom.

"Eighteen percent more food energy is required in many populations where
there is a large prevalence of obesity," he said, citing a 460-calorie
increase in daily food intake for an obese individual. "There is a clear
impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in order to grow that food."

Edwards and colleague Ian Roberts wrote in the letter that "more
transportation fuel energy will be used to transport the increased mass
of the obese population, which will increase even further if, as is
likely, the overweight people in response to their increased body mass
choose to walk less and drive more."

But more troubling, some said, was the stigma that could arise from the
suggestion that those who are obese pose a greater environmental burden
than their slimmer counterparts."

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