Environmetalists turn a blind eye on the dangers of increasing human body size and height

Environmentalists for some strange reason ignore the impact of the worldwide trend towards increasing height, weight and obesity. Yes, 7 billion people are a problem for the environment and this fact cannot be ignored. However, the average height and weight of humans are also very important because bigger people require more resources and produce more pollution.

I have studied the impact of increasing height and human body size for almost 4 decades. I have looked at how increasing body size and stature affects our health, performance, longevity, resource needs, economy, and environment. You can find an overview of this work and scientific publications at website:  www.humanbodysize.com

Americans have been increasing in weight at a rapid rate. In the early 1900s, the average college male student weighed 133 pounds. Today, the average adult American male weighs almost 200 pounds. In1970, there was only one NFL football player who was 300 pounds. In 2009, it was almost 400 players who weighed that much or more.  Of course, increased obesity is part of the picture, but even without obesity, the simple process of producing taller men and women means we are getting heavier  adults as well. When we shorter in the 1900s, obesity was a fraction of what it is today with our taller population. The two characteristics tend to go together. Thus, the belief that if our children are taller, they will be healthier is false because many scientists have noted that chronic diseases have increased sharply since the industrial revolution in parallel with our increasing height.  For example, the famous physician and researcher Denis Burkitt noted that we have experienced an "explosive" growth in chronic diseases during the 20th century.

Of course, there are many health problems related to our diet, growth and obesity. These are discussed in the book: Samaras (Ed): Human Body Size and the Laws of Scaling, Nova Science Publishers, NY. Professors Bartke and Rollo have contributed chapters to this book.

My main theme in this blog relates to the environmental and resource impact of increasing human body size.  For example, Dannenberg, Burton and Jackson (National Center for Environmental Health, CDC) calculated that a mere 10 pound increase in the average American requires an additional 350 million gallons of airline fuel per year.

If we assume a 10% increase in height of the average American while maintaining the same body proportions. Weight would increase by 33%.  The result of this increase in height and weight is large; therefore, future forecasts of problems and costs need to include these changes. To get a feel for how much bigger bodies costs us and the planet, see below:

Areas Impacted                                    Magnitude of Increase per year

Metals, minerals and plastics                         400 million tons
Food                                                                  52 million tons
Water                                                                 34 trillion gallons
Farmland                                                            72 million acres
Garbage                                                              32 million tons
Carbon dioxide production                                 1.2 billion tons
Energy                                                                16 quadrillion BTUs
Economic cost                                                    1.2 trillion dollars

Another factor that is not included in the preceding economic costs of getting bigger along with increased medical needs is the nation's health care costs. Professor Colin Campbell (The China Study) reported that the Health Care Financing Administration estimated several years ago that our health care costs will be $16 trillion per year by 2030. This is obviously a cost that our economy cannot bear.

The preceding figures indicate that when forecasts are made about the ramifications of an increasing
population, the average size of this population needs to also be taken into account.