Overweight and obesity might not only be individual problems anymore but
also collective ones. Biologists have calculated the human biomass as an
additional means to measure the impact – and in this case the word “impact” can
be taken quite literally – of the human race on our planet and have found out,
that out of the total human biomass of 287 million tonnes, 15 million tonnes can
be traced back to overweight and 3.5 million tonnes to obesity. This is quite a
lot, especially considering the fact that this additional mass of 15 million
tonnes is equivalent to 242 million humans with an average weight of 62 kg.
That sheds light not only on the problem of “population growth” but also
on the problem of “overconsumption” as epidemiologist Ian Robert states.
Yet, what might or should be the consequences of this finding? The more
someone weighs, the more energy input his body needs. The more energy is
needed, the more the planet is exploited. When following this argument, obviously
human weight should be reduced in order to save the planet. Yet, implementing
policies that help solving this problem can lead to absurd and problematic
decisions like the one-child-policy in China. In addition, overweight and obesity
have different causes in the range from overeating to genetic defects, which
makes it difficult to implement any law that would regulate the weight of each
individual. Only the diet industry can rejoice: now they have one argument more
to convince people to buy their products. The possible slogan could be: save
the planet – drink (insert name of protein drink here)!
-Malin
Excess weight [W, M—“overweight” is only used as an adjective] and obesity might not merely [W,St,Reg] be individual problems anymore, but also collective ones. Biologists have calculated the human biomass as an additional means to measure the impact—and in this case the word “impact” can be taken quite literally—of the human race on our planet and have found [E,W][P,Gr] that out of the total human biomass of 287 million tons, [Sp—You’ve started by using NAE, so best stick to it] 15 million tons [s.a.] can be traced back to excess weight, [P] and 3.5 million tons [s.a.] to obesity. This is quite a lot, especially considering the fact that this additional mass of 15 million tons [s.a.] is equivalent to 242 million humans with an average weight of 62 kg. That sheds light not only on the problem of “population growth” but also on the problem of “overconsumption,” [P] as epidemiologist Ian Robert states.
AntwortenLöschenYet, what might or should be the consequences of this finding? The more someone weighs, the more energy input his body needs. The more energy that [coh,Gr,E] is needed, the more the planet is exploited. [Coh,foc] Following this argument, obviously human weight should be reduced in order to save the planet. Yet, implementing policies that help solve [WF] this problem can lead to absurd and problematic decisions like the one-child-policy in China. In addition, excess weight and obesity have different causes, ranging [P][WF,coh,Gr]from overeating to genetic defects, which makes it difficult to implement any law that would regulate the weight of each individual. Only the diet industry can rejoice: now they have one argument more to convince people to buy their products. The possible slogan could be: save the planet – drink (insert name of protein drink here)!