Chew On This: Obese blamed for food and climate crisis!

Breaking news 5.16.08: The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has calculated the obese consume 18 percent more calories than average. Therefore they're driving up food and fuel prices. How? They provoke an increased consumption of oil by the agriculture and transport industries harnessed to supply their demand for extra food!

The conclusion, reported in prestigious journal The Lancet, is that the cost of fuel is passed on in the rising cost of food, so the poor struggle to afford food. Gas emissions rise with the increase use of oil in the agricultural processes applied to meet demand. And the obese rely on transport more.

Obese people, the study found, need 1680 calories to maintain normal energy plus another 1280 to manage daily activities. That's a fifth more than those not obese.

A co-author of the article, Phil Edwards, proposed urban transport policies that promote walking and cycling. They would, he said, "Reduce food prices by reducing the global demand for oil and promotion of a normal weight." And "Decreased car use would reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Standing up for the obese, Dr David Haslam of Britain's National Obesity Forum, said, "Really, it is discriminatory towards obese people. They are an easy target at the moment, but I think the causes of climate change and rising food prices is much more complex."

The World Health Organization predicts the obese population globally will double to 700 million by 2015.