29 January 2009

Obesity contributes to global pollution

Check out this article:

Should Overweight Consumers Pay Extra for Services From Southwest Airlines & Other Businesses?

A number of companies and consumer groups think that overweight adults should pay extra for their services. Do you?
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/95247/should_overweight_consumers_pay_extra.html

Excerpt:

Statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that the American population's weight has been creeping up since the 1990's. More than thirty percent of American adults over the age of 20 are obese. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that the average weight of American adults has ballooned by 10 pounds.

The extra weight of these chubby vagabonds has translated into an additional $275 million dollar expenditure to burn more than 350 million additional gallons of jet fuel resulting in 3.8 million extra tons of carbon dioxide released into the air.


your thoughts?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is why i like a free-market society. i think if airlines want to up the rates for obese people, let them. but if i owned an airline, i wouldn't do it, and then all the obese people would come fly on my planes. and since apparently we're such an obese country, i don't think i'd have to worry about the money.

kathryn said...

biz, you should totally capitalize on that! :-) start your own airline!

i think i was most shocked about how much the obesity of our nation added to the fuel emissions. crazy!

Unknown said...

This tubbo should probably fly on Biz's airline.

But, yes, I'm a-ok with airlines charging extra—and not just because I could probably share a seat with you (as we are wont to do!).

I realize for some it's glandular or there are other excuses, but so many of us DON'T have an excuse. Stop complaining about your weight and go for a run. Then you can spend the money you don't need for bigger plane seats on tinier clothes. :)

kathryn said...

for *some* it is glandular... 3% of obese folks. in my college nutrition class, our prof explained that 97% of obesity is caused by poor eating and exercise habits.

cheaper plane tickets would be a good incentive for healthy living! :-)