Report: America's obesity problem equals a billion gallons of gas per year
 

Filed under: Etc.

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Newsflash: Americans are fat. And no, we're not just big boned. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions over the past couple decades, and as a result diabetes, heart disease and just about every other health issue are on the rise.

The Atlantic reports that the amount of fuel we're using is on the rise as well, as heavy occupants need more fuel to get from Point A to *insert drive-thru joke here*. A 2006 study shows that Americans weigh so much more than they did in 1960 that we're using up an additional billion gallons of petrol every year.

That's about $4 billion a year at today's gas prices, and nearly one percent of overall fuel usage. And that was back in 2006 - as we continue to plump up, the dollars continue to pile up. Inside Line reports that each pound we gain as a population adds up to another $39 million. It's too bad we can't get stop/start tech for our appetites.America's obesity problem equals a billion gallons of gas per year originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 May 2012 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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