Due To U.S. Obesity, Global Population Is 17 Million Tons Overweight

[kpete]

Due To U.S. Obesity, Global Population Is 17 Million Tons Overweight
By Tara Culp-Ressler on Jun 18, 2012 at 12:15 pm

Although the United States represents just 5 percent of the global population, it contributes to one-third of the world’s total weight, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine concluded in a study released today.

The study calculated the weight of the global population at 316 million tons, and estimated that about 17 million tons of that figure is due to the growing numbers of people who are overweight. Increasing levels of fatness around the world threaten future food security, the researchers argues, since current levels of obesity could have the same impact on global resources as an additional half billion people.

Researchers calculated the average global body weight at 137 pounds; however, there are huge differences across regions. The average is 178 pounds in North America and 127 pounds in Asia, for example. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the United States has the highest biomass of any other nation:




http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/18/501286/17-million-tons-overweight/

[Blue_Tires]

1. i'm working on getting it off for good

gimme a little time...

[L0oniX]

2. I like popcorn.

[Zalatix]

3. Yay, another group of people to marginalize, attack and demonize.

[Fawke Em]

5. I don't think most here blame people who are overweight.

I think most people here blame our society, our crappy food and our inability to afford good food on our meager incomes.

How can one blame the person when most cities don't have decent walking and public transportation alternatives?

How can one blame the person when bio-engineered food creates havoc in our bodies, chemically, rendering us unable (or nearly unable) to lose weight or maintain a good weight based on what's set out for purchase in stores.

How can one blame the person when good, organic and local food IS available, but is more expensive to purchase, particularly for single-parent families who have hungry bellies to feed?

I don't eat a lot. I walk, daily, yet, I cannot lose the 20-30 pounds I need to lose. I can only assume that the build-up of years of food hormones has pushed my Peri-menopausal body to a point where I would need thousands of dollars of organic food, colonics and other high-priced alternatives to get the hormones, drugs and chemicals out of my system.

[Initech]

4. Stewie Griffin should be the richest man in the world then.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

6. Clearly the rest of the world can lose weight to balance the scales.

We wouldn't want the fat cats to sacrifiec everything so we'll just balance the scales using the sacrifices of lesser nourished people.

[Quantess]

7. We better watch out or the earth is gonna stop spinning.

[L0oniX]

12. So fat it's throwing the world out of its solar position.

[dkf]

8. Isnt it amazing how the rest of the world gets quality food and we don't?

Wow. Poor us.

[L0oniX]

13. If only we could eat cat, dog, monkey and other bush meat ...problem solved

[Turbineguy]

9. But this is offset

by teabaggers low brain weight.

[L0oniX]

14. +1

[Capt. Obvious]

10. Yeah, but that number comes down when they lose their feet

[Son of Gob]

11. How the heck did Eygpt get so fat?

I don't get that.

[L0oniX]

15. Something to do with their food "pyramids"???

[Son of Gob]

16. DUzy!

[Shankapotomus]

17. That is unbelievable

there is something wrong with this country.

The lines for China I think tell us that some Chinese are currently starving because their bmi would be higher if it was the same as Japan, the nation with the lowest bmi.

[Ikonoklast]

18. "We're Number One! We're Number One! Go USA! USA! USA!.....(weeze)....(pant)....."

"Where's my Big Gulp, that third double cheeseburger ain't goin' down too good."