Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report on obesity and found that there was a 1.1 percent increase (an additional 2.4 million people) in the self-reported prevalence of obesity between 2007 and 2009, plus the number of states with an obesity rate over 30 percent has tripled to nine states. In 2000, there were no states that had an obesity rate of 30 percent or more. This obesity has caused more people to buy larger vehicles, which increases gasoline consumption in the U.S. and fuel consumption increases with more weight in cars from people.
A detailed study published in 2006 at Entrepreneur.com analyzed the amount of additional fuel consumed due to heavier drivers. One key finding was that almost 1 billion gallons of gasoline per year can be attributed to passenger weight gain in non-commercial vehicles between 1960 and 2002--this translates to .7 percent of the total fuel used by passenger vehicles annually. Researchers also estimated that over 39 million gallons of fuel is used annually for every pound gained in average passenger weight!
A 2009 study by the non-profit company Resources for the Future looked at the link between obesity and vehicle demand and found that from 1999 to 2005, a 10-percent increase in overweight and obese drivers reduced fuel economy of new vehicle demand by 2.5 percent. The study noted that as the overweight and obesity rates increased, so did the percentage of vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks purchased from 16 percent in the early 1970s to recently more than 40 percent. (Of course, other factors helped drive this market change, such as those crude, commercial-type vehicles becoming more refined and better tailored to commuter duties.)
These findings are sensible yet still surprising, and they drive home the point that the problems associated with obesity in the U.S. can run far deeper we ever realized.
(With thanks to Consumer Reports and the CDC for this information)
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