FAT people blamed for global warming and bad economy

[Judge_Dre]

Report: Overweight people cost the U.S. economy $117 billion each year

by Catey Hill
daily news staff writer

Friday, May 29th 2009, 12:43 PM
Dazeley/Getty

Overweight teenager with fries

Fat people cost the U.S. billions of dollars every year.

Yes, extra flab sets this nation's economy back $117 billion per year, Business Insider reported. Here are the stats:

- About two-thirds of adults age 20 or older are overweight or obese
- Thirty-two percent are obese
- The direct or indirect cost of being obese is $117 billion every year (Office of the Surgeon General)

Overweight individuals also make global warming worse, according to The Sun.

Because food production is a major factor in the CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming, and overweight individuals eat more food, they're a big factor in global warming.

“Food production accounts for about one fifth of greenhouse gases," Dr Phil Edwards, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told The Sun.

“Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler,” he added.

In fact, a fat person is responsible for the release of more than a tonne more carbon dioxide every single year than is a thin person.

“We need to do a lot more to reverse the global trend towards fatness. It is a key factor in the battle to reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change," he said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/200...each_year.html

[Blackjack]

Daily News is yellow journalism and has very little that should be taken seriously.

Much like The Sun, which this article cites.

[midnightrogue]

you consume more > > you use up more of the earth's resorces
sounds reasonable enough.

[James]

Originally Posted by midnightrogue

you consume more > > you use up more of the earth's resorces
sounds reasonable enough.

which makes the targeting of fat people kind of absurd when one considers how low down the list of overconsumers they are... Why is it that one type of overconsumption (fatness) is considered a cause of global warming when another (owning multiple cars, owning multiple houses, making unnecessary plane trips, owning a yacht etc.) are considered to be acceptable?

The problem of overconsumption is structural, systemic and pervasive. Blaming fat people, whilst pretending one owns the moral high ground as one parks one's SUV in one's McMansion (for example), is nothing short of absurd.

[exile in thighville]

brilliant post, jimothy.

and i think it's pretty obvious fat people are not universally larger consumers when most rich people can afford not to be fat and fat is associated with being lower class. plus, you know, logic: know a fat person who cares about his/her carbon footprint? boom, i just disproved your theorem.

[Jon Blaze]

Originally Posted by James

which makes the targeting of fat people kind of absurd when one considers how low down the list of overconsumers they are... Why is it that one type of overconsumption (fatness) is considered a cause of global warming when another (owning multiple cars, owning multiple houses, making unnecessary plane trips, owning a yacht etc.) are considered to be acceptable?

The problem of overconsumption is structural, systemic and pervasive. Blaming fat people, whilst pretending one owns the moral high ground as one parks one's SUV in one's McMansion (for example), is nothing short of absurd.

+1 to that! There's almost always a counter point. For example: If I am to concede that fat people are more injury prone (Causing health care cost to increase), then why are they hated, and I'm not when I'm more injury prone doing all the activities I enjoy? If I break something practicing kickboxing every year, causing down time, why do I get little to no flack because of it? It not only costs money because I'm down, but even more because I'm a GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE.
No one will say a word to me, because it's a double standard. I'm athletic! It's ok!

[Waxwing]

Originally Posted by Jon Blaze

No one will say a word to me, because it's a double standard. I'm athletic! It's ok!

Are you kidding? I'm keeping my eye on you and writing down every bump and bruise. I want to be reimbursed in cash for my tax contribution to your body.

[Dr. Feelgood]

The most illogical argument in this article(among many) is that fat people are to blame because food production contributes to global warming! This would hold true if and only if all food were produced solely by fat people. Having read a bit on the subject, I understand that food production contributes to global warming largely through the production of greenhouse gases, principally methane. And not all food production is equally responsible: most of the billions of tons of methane added to our atmosphere each year come from what is coyly called 'bovine flatulence.' So if we want to reduce global warming, we would be better advised to quit eating beef than scapegoat fat people.

[mithrandirjn]

There are two points this article makes, one being logical, the other being another example of why people who live up around here in the Tri-State area only pick up the Daily News for the sports section (and even that is mostly tabloid trash).

The part that needs to be taken seriously is the medical side of things. While there are many obese or overweight people on this board who take strong, proactive measures to take care of their health (i.e. moderate exercise, a diet that keeps your body working well, etc.), we do have to realize that a big time number of overweight people aren't doing those things, which leads to stats like heart disease being the biggest killer in the US. Don't forget, a lot of people gain weight due to things like stress, lack of time and energy to care for themselves...in other words, they're doing it the wrong way, often unintentionally, and if you do ANYTHING the wrong way, it'll harm you.

Now, I'm obviously not saying that only overweight/obese people have health issues that stem from lack of exercise or diet (I know plenty of thin or "medium size" people who are out of shape in a lot of ways), but the reality of health risks can't be ignored among bigger people, either. It's why the whole issue of personal health shouldn't be painted as "Work out so you can fit into the same jeans you wore in high school!", it should be that no matter what your size, weight, height, etc., there are ALWAYS things you can do to improve your own health and take care of yourself. Being fat or thin isn't always a direct sign of how healthy or unhealthy you are, and the sooner people realize that, the sooner they'll actually start doing smart things to stay healthy, and not just go on a <insert number of weeks here> crash diet or some stupid idea like that.

Now, as for the other part, what a bunch of garbage. Food production is way up in this country because we allow all the corporate mega-farms to mass produce tons and tons of chemically-messed with meat, veggies, and fruits by the minute, which, thanks to their tax breaks and loopholes is done cheaply, and then sold in mass units to us, the consumers.

Technically speaking, yes, a person who eats more consumes more. Duh. But the heart of the problem isn't anywhere NEAR that. The entire food system in the United States is messed up beyond belief in a lot of ways, and instead of curbing production costs by blaming fat people for eating, blame the friggin' companies for all the chemicals, additives, and addictive substances they put in the food. Humans were not meant to consume high fructose corn syrup all the damn time.

[Santaclear]

duplicate post

[Santaclear]

Another study said that men prefer larger women during bad economic times. It's all so confusing, I tell you.

[Jon Blaze]

Originally Posted by Waxwing

Are you kidding? I'm keeping my eye on you and writing down every bump and bruise. I want to be reimbursed in cash for my tax contribution to your body.

haha. Good to see you back.

[TallFatSue]

Originally Posted by Judge_Dre

“Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler,” he added.

This faulty semblance of logic reminds me of an interesting little conversation I had during a business trip to Reno, Nevada. Of course I had to be nice schmoozing with potential clients, but at dinner one evening a certain blowhard brought up the topic of big cars polluting the environment, and -- this couldn't be a coincidence with me sitting right there -- how much extra fuel cars burn because there are so many fat people on the road! He had to be testing me. Grrrr, I resisted the urge to pour water over his head but decided to engage him, under the guise of looking beyond the obvious. Purely professional, of course. Yes all things being equal, it does take extra energy to transport my fat. But all things are rarely equal. Mr. Blowhard proudly stated that he drove a small car, BUT after careful questioning he finally admitted that he commuted from Fallon to Reno every day, 60 miles one way! And he doesn't car pool. My daily commute from Perrysburg to Maumee, Ohio is all of 6 miles each way. Even if I get only 25 miles per gallon compared to his 35 MPG, I fill up my car once or twice a month compared to his twice a week, so I'm way ahead!

He suddenly became very quiet.

[Zandoz]

Sounds like more of the utter BS that has been spewed as fact on a lot of the talk radio shows around here for a few years. Fat people are the new scape goats of choice.

[moore2me]

Originally Posted by Judge_Dre

Report: Overweight people cost the U.S. economy $117 billion each year
Point
by Catey Hill
daily news staff writer

Counterpoint by Moore2me, Daily Internet Freelance Goon
and professional fat person. Moore's comments in blue.

Friday, May 29th 2009, 12:43 PM
Dazeley/Getty

Overweight teenager with fries.
Slim teenager texting on cell phone & is driving 70 mph while not paying attention to the car wandering across the lanes.
Which is more scary?


Fat people cost the U.S. billions of dollars every year.

Old people cost the US billions of dollars every year.
Keeping children alive year after year that were born with birth defects like cerebral palsy, blindness, chromosomal deficiencies, or fetal alcohol syndrome also cost the US billions of dollars every year.

Yes, extra flab sets this nation's economy back $117 billion per year, Business Insider reported. Here are the stats:

Gee, Business Insider huh? Do you think they would have a conflict of interest in getting all these fatties and women who think they're fat to. . . .
buy diet drugs, buy no fat or low fat foods, join weight reduction clubs, buy copies of mags and other stuff like the Secret, or to have surgeries or other medical procedures?

- About two-thirds of adults age 20 or older are overweight or obese
- Thirty-two percent are obese
- The direct or indirect cost of being obese is $117 billion every year (Office of the Surgeon General)

The US Surgeon General has the following website http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/priori....html#overview

Here is his list of priorities:

• Overweight and Obesity
• Increasing Physical Activity
• HIV/AIDS
• Tobacco Use
• Preventing Birth Defects
• Preventing Injury

Why are these priorities?
• Seven of 10 Americans who die each year die of a preventable chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes and many forms of cancer.
• Tobacco-related illnesses are the leading cause of death and kill 435,000 people each year.


Overweight individuals also make global warming worse, according to The Sun.

So do cows, many industries, volcanoes, driving cars, etc.

Because food production is a major factor in the CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming, and overweight individuals eat more food, they're a big factor in global warming.

Actually, some types of food production is worse than others. Producing red meat and other highly processed foods (like white sugar, cow's milk, pet food, corn, and non-foods like tobacco, and drugs) contribute to carbon dioxide much more than fatties do.

So if you are worried about food production being too costly in CO2 emissions, eat kelp, grain products that require little fertilizers like barley & oats, sea weeds, beans, goat's milk and cheese, peanuts, and other veggies. Change your diet to a vegan instead of a person that hates fat people.

“Food production accounts for about one fifth of greenhouse gases," Dr Phil Edwards, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told The Sun.

“Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler,” he added.

In fact, a fat person is responsible for the release of more than a tonne more carbon dioxide every single year than is a thin person.

Okay, if you drive a big car like a caddy or a hummer you are in the same boat as the fat group with me. If you have a house with excessive square feet (more than 2000) and heat and cool it, join the excess group. If you fill your vehicle up with gas more than every two weeks, you're in the excees carbon dioxide group too. If you drive your car around the countryside for fun, you - in the pool. If you have an excess of consumer goods - you are supporting industries that produced carbon dioxide emissions. Too many shoes, or coats, or pants, or dresses, you too join the rest of us. If you wear leather (check your belt, fancy purse, shoes, car seats, sofa, saddles, whips) this stuff comes from cows who produce carbon dioxide and methane.


“We need to do a lot more to reverse the global trend towards fatness. It is a key factor in the battle to reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change," he said. And Moore2me says in reply . . . . blow it out your ear. You guys are just as guilty or more so than I am.

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/200...each_year.html

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[olwen]

Yeah, cause the daily news has such high quality reporting. There are so many things wrong with that little space filler.

This tired argument is just so stupid. Like food producers are growing food just for fatties. They grow a ton of food, raise animals on a large scale and use a ton of pesticides and gas guzzling tractors and harvesters and whatnot for a number of reasons, one of which is because agribusiness has systematized and legitimized the kinds of practices that make it damn near impossible to produce food on a larger scale. Plus if fat people tend to be poor they can't afford to eat well anyway.

That fat people consume more in general is just ridiculous since fat people are often left out of the consumer equation in many industries, healthcare being one of them. How can we buy more if we typically earn less? That we're being blamed for high insurance premiums is not a reason to discriminate, it's a reason to fix our health care system. I wouldn't blame a fat person for not going to the doctor for preventive care if it means being treated like a naughty child by the medical staff. Not to mention how much pharma cos make selling drugs to people. They'd loose money and they have a powerful lobby to help make sure that doesn't happen.

[Santaclear]

Fat people have ruined this thread.

[imfree]

Originally Posted by Santaclear

Fat people have ruined this thread.

Absolutely, SantaClear! It looks like this fat person
has ruined Rep and I can't find any to give you.

[00 toni lynn 00]

Well awesome! I'll help save the world one butt cheek on the couch at a time!

Originally Posted by Judge_Dre

“Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler,” he added.

In fact, a fat person is responsible for the release of more than a tonne more carbon dioxide every single year than is a thin person.