May 04, 2009


From Chris Heneghan:

Re: Keeping slim is good for the planet, say scientists (April 20): Have they taken account of the many billions of tons of CO2 stored as body fat, and the catastrophic effect this might have if released into the atmosphere?


From Sylvia María Valls:

Re: Keeping slim is good for the planet, say scientists (April 20): “In nearly eve­ry coun­try in the world, av­er­age body mass in­dex—a meas­ure of obes­ity—is ris­ing. Be­tween 1994 and 2004 the av­er­age male body mass in­dex in Eng­land in­creased from 26 to 27. 3, the re­search­ers said. The av­er­age female body mass in­dex rose from 25. 8 to 26. 9, about 3 kg, or al­most 7 pounds, heav­i­er. Hu­man­kind is get­ting steadily fat­ter.”

Well, but would not the such rise in body mass over a ten year period (1. 3 for men and 1. 1 rise in the body mass index) be accounted for by the fact that we are all getting older and that getting fatter goes with getting older?... or is there no reason for people to get heavier over the years?... Do the Vietnamese remain skinny as they get older... ?