Walking - the One Weapon to Fight Two Dangers, Obesity and Global Warming

December 10, 2007 at 10:07 AM Obesity News
  •   Print
  •   Share
  •   Comments
  •  Text 
Walking - the One Weapon to Fight Two Dangers, Obesity and Global Warming
Get out of your car and walk or bike half an hour a day instead of driving. And while you're at it, eat less red meat. That's how Americans can simultaneously save the planet and their health, say doctors and climate scientists, public health experts suggest.

The payoffs are huge, although unlikely to happen. One numbers-crunching scientist calculates that if all Americans between 10 and 74 walked just half an hour a day instead of driving, they would cut the annual U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, by 64 million tons, notes Seth Borenstein, writing in the Huffington Post.

About 6.5 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved. And Americans would also shed more than 3 billion pounds overall, according to these calculations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering public promotion of the "co-benefits" of fighting global warming and obesity-related illnesses through everyday exercise, like walking to school or work, said Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health.

"A simple intervention like walking to school is a climate change intervention, an obesity intervention, a diabetes intervention, a safety intervention," Frumkin told The Associated Press. "That's the sweet spot."

Climate change is a deadly and worsening public health issue, said Frumkin and other experts. The World Health Organization estimated that 160,000 people died in 2000 from malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and drownings from floods -- problems that public health and climate scientists contend were worsened by global warming. Officials predict that in the future those numbers will be higher.

Page 1 Page 1 | 2  Next
 Email Email   RSS Feeds RSS Feeds   Print this page Print   Save this page Save   Link Link   Syndicate Syndicate   Comments Comments   Bookmark and Share
 
Comment & Contribute
Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions
  
If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.
X

Medwonders Health Network

  • Health News Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
News Archive
Date :
Category :
Keyword :
  • News Quick Links
News Central Health Watch
Latest Health News Health In Focus
News Category (500+) Breaking Health News
Popular News Celebrating Life
Health News and Press Release Medindia - Exclusive
News Photo Gallery India Special
News Video Gallery Lifestyle and Wellness
News From Other Resources
Obesity
Complete Medindia Resources
News Categories:  
Vision Health Center

Obesity Related News

» Lipoprotein Levels in Obese Patients With Fatty Liver Disease Does Not Improve by Moderate Exercise » Genes Might be The Cause of Irresistibility Towards Fatty Foods
» Obesity Raises Kidney Damage Risk After Heart Surgery » Obesity Rates Increasing Risk of Liver Disease Among Teens
» Obese Patients Have More Aggressive Papillary Thyroid Cancer: Study » Experts Say One-fifth of Shanghai Youth are Overweight
» Study Says Obese Adolescents Have Heart Damage » Drug-Free Intervention to Prevent Obesity and Diabetes Possible Via Salk Study
Read More >>