According to a study published in Science Daily, people who can’t live without technology are at high risk of obesity. Of all the technological factors included in our current lives, excess vehicle usage is linked to the No.1 death cause in America these days.
Obesity is no joke. It is a reality. These days the United States population is facing the highest number of obese citizens in history. The city life, with all the technology it involves, has made it deadly easy to gain weight. There is a large number of factors that contribute to overweight results. These include the incredible amount and variety of junk food on the market; the technological devices that keep us between the walls of our homes like video games and “mother-TV”; the lacking in will to exercise or to be in the nature. Now, scientists have proven that cars are “public health No.1”.
Professor Sheldon H. Jacobson, a of computer science specialist and director of the simulation and optimization laboratory at Illinois gathered a team of experts to study the impact of using cars daily and obesity. According to Jacobson, there is a strong argument that links the two: people eat and this way they gather energy. Then, when they have to consume it, they go around it – instead of walking, running or exercising in other way, they go by car.
The team analyzed data from national statistics between the years 1985 and 2007 and discovered a correlation between vehicle usage and obesity rate. “When you are sitting in a car, you are doing nothing, so your body is burning the least amount of energy possible” said Jacobson and added that if you are eating while driving it gets even worse.
Over the last 60 years the American society has evolved greatly from the technology point of view, adding more and more devices and apparels that would make people’s lives easier. But when technology meets health, the results are not always positive. Comfort generally leads to laziness, lack of interest, and ultimately to illnesses.
This phenomena is being observed in countries that have started introducing vehicles gradually into people’s lives. “In places like China and India, where the automobile is increasingly competing with cycling and walking as a mode of transportation, they are observing more obesity” said Jacobson and stated that there is no possible way to eliminate obesity and keep up with the same driving schedule. But he concluded that some small changes could make a big difference: “If every licensed driver reduced their travel by one mile per day, in six years the adult obesity rate would be 2.16 percent lower.”
Source: newsinabox.net
