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  • #1441

    Check out this article:

    [quote:305vdae3]Fat people use more gasoline, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a study by faculty members of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    The study, which is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of The Engineering Economist, says that an additional 938 million gallons of gas are used annually because drivers and passengers are considerably heavier than in 1960.

    In 1960, the average adult male weighed 166 pounds and the female weighed 140. In 2002, those averages were 191 and 164, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

    “Our nation’s hunger for food and our nation’s hunger for oil are not independent,” said computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson, who co-wrote the study.

    The project looked only at noncommercial travel and was based on the simple fact that heavier cars use more gas.

    “There are many health benefits for losing weight,” Jacobson said. “An unexpected benefit is that we would use less fuel.”

    But not much, said John Felmy, chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute, the story said. “It’s an interesting calculation. But we use about 140 billion gallons a year. The savings would be less than 1 percent.”

    http://www.caranddriver.com/dailyautoin … oline.html[/quote:305vdae3]

    Catholic social teaching (and common sense) tells us that the decisions we make affect other people, sometimes all over the world.

    While John Felmy, the guy at the end of the article, says that the 938 million gallons of gas additionally used in cars due to heavier passengers is only less than 1% of our gas consumption there are other factors involved.

    Think about this: Americans, on average, are gaining weight. Most likely there is an increase in food consumption (in addition to more sedentary lifestyles) which also increases demand for food.

    The increase demand in food also increases the demand to transport the food to the people. In order to transport the food most commercial shippers still use trucks thereby increasing the demand for gasoline or fuel. More fuel is used not only in our vehicles to transport us, but also in the trucks to get our food here so we can eat more.

    With an increase in demand almost always comes an increase in price due to the limits of supply for a particular item. An increase on gas consumption with a limited supply means an increase in price. An increase in food consumption with a limited supply also means an increase in food price.

    Add to all of this the health related issues with being overweight which adds increased burden on our healthcare system. This in turn drives up insurance premiums because it has to get paid for somehow.

    See the potential cause and effect here? See the chain reaction of our increased consumption?

    Reduce your consumption and reduce everyone’s costs overall. I’m gonna go exercise now.

    #7246
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    [color=darkred:3bqx5da3]I REALLY need to do this. I’ve been so caught up with various things that exercise has slipped my everyday routine. I need to just go run at 10pm after the kids are asleep.[/color:3bqx5da3]

    #7261
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Too many drive-through’s get a fast lunch keep on driving while eating(come on).I really feel sorry for the kids most sit at school all day come home eat some fatty foods and a couple cans of mountain dew go and play video games,no exercise.

    #7263
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    The new Nintendo coming out next month has a motion-sensitive controller that will put at least some calorie-burning into video games.

    #7265
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    [quote:xvca1yi0]The new Nintendo coming out next month has a motion-sensitive controller that will put at least some calorie-burning into video games.[/quote:xvca1yi0]

    [color=green:xvca1yi0]Same with the Playstation 3. Jenny Craig better watch out. [/color:xvca1yi0]

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