Studies

Americans’ Big, Fat Appetites Putting the Rest of the World at Risk

A global threat.
A global threat. Photo: iStockphoto

A new report recently published by researchers at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is saying that Americans’ big, fat appetites could be threatening the world’s food supplies, and if we continue down this plumpy road, we will probably put millions of people in other countries on the brink of starvation. While that’s a pretty heavy assertion and provides plenty of food for thought, there’s sort of a silver lining. We’re not alone. The study finds that on a global scale, the entire human race is about 17 million tons overweight. But, as you could probably guess, America carries more of that at extra tonnage than any other nation.

Maybe it’s all the soda. Or the bacon sundaes from Burger King. We’re pretty certain that constantly growing portion sizes at fast-food joints play a hand. But no matter what, the United States, which makes up only 5 percent of Earth’s population, accounts for nearly a third of all the word’s weight. And that, the researchers say, is due to rampant obesity here in the land of the free and the home of the Whopper. If the rest of the world was as fat as we are, it would be like having an extra billion people on this planet. Maybe we’ll hold off on that second helping of dessert tonight.

Report: World’s population is 17 million tons overweight [MSNBC]

Americans’ Big, Fat Appetites Putting the Rest of the World at Risk