World-wide, over a billion adults are overweight and 300 million are officially obese. The Energy Glut expertly tells the story of energy in society, and places 'fatness' next to climate change, as manifestations of the same fundamental planetary malaise. This exciting new book argues that the pulse of fossil fuel energy released from the ground after the discovery of oil not only started the process of catastrophic climate change, but also propelled the average human weight distribution upwards. The author presents a terrifying vision of humans besieged by a food industry that uses sophisticated marketing techniques to sell us mountains of energy-dense food whilst at the same time we are 'functionally paralysed' with fewer opportunities to move our bodies than ever before and that the accumulation of body fat is a political, not a personal, problem. This insightful new work offers and appraises for the reader a set of personal and political de-carbonising strategies, but to 'tread more lightly on our world' we first need to make sense of the systemic processes, and Energy Glut takes expert first steps in this direction.
The Energy Glut
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.62
Trade in The Energy Glut: The Politics of Fatness in an Overheating World for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.62, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
'Ian Roberts presents a refreshingly novel and objective look at two of the biggest Public Health challenges of this century - obesity and climate change - and the inescapable link between them. No longer is obesity a lifestyle condition or a problem of greedy, sloth couch potatoes. It is an inevitable consequence of our globally oil-dependent society. Read on and you should be convinced enough to reclaim your life... and your planet' --Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, MD, President, Royal College of Physicians
About the Author
Ian Roberts is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the London School of Health and Tropical Medicine.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Davies Mawr
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Three of the biggest global public health challenges (obesity, sustainable transport and climate change) are persuasively analysed leading to the conclusion that they share a single cause - cheap oil. In making this link the author demonstrates how obesity is not a personal problem and should not be treated as such.
Well written and very readable, it must be read by everyone working in the field of public health and should be read by everyone else.
Well written and very readable, it must be read by everyone working in the field of public health and should be read by everyone else.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A shocking indictment of the current obesity and related issues. A great analysis at last linking the obesity problem, putting the blame onto the individual, and the transport system which is designed to get people into a sedentary lifestyle and behind the wheel of a motorised vehicle.
An easy read but thorough investigation, and very up-to-date
An easy read but thorough investigation, and very up-to-date
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stimulating and provocative account of a important global malaise - but also flawed
2 Oct 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Roberts uses his direct experience as a doctor in the UK and third world countries, and combines it wide range of other people's research to lay out the linkages between rapidly rising obesity in the west, the continued global rise of the car and the oil industry, and the increasing productisation and abasement of the food we consume. His arguments for changes big and small are very important. He has altered my perception of what some of the most serious global problems we need to address are. For these reasons, I'd like to see as many people as possible reading the book.
So what's wrong with it? The problem is that sometime the tone is hectoring. Obviously the author feels strongly about the issues he writes about, and wants us to feel the same. But he goes too far at times, in particular towards the end of the book, to the point where I feel myself annoyed even when he's making points I broadly agree with.
I really hope there will be a second edition updating the book with new insights and research. But I hope that also the author takes the opportunity to tone down some of the rhetoric and let people make their own minds up - because that would make the arguments more persuasive.
So what's wrong with it? The problem is that sometime the tone is hectoring. Obviously the author feels strongly about the issues he writes about, and wants us to feel the same. But he goes too far at times, in particular towards the end of the book, to the point where I feel myself annoyed even when he's making points I broadly agree with.
I really hope there will be a second edition updating the book with new insights and research. But I hope that also the author takes the opportunity to tone down some of the rhetoric and let people make their own minds up - because that would make the arguments more persuasive.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews
3.8 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timebomb writing
Best tract I have read on the possible apocalyptic future should we continued to live the way we do. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Prawsk
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant book on transport (as well as food, fatness and climate...
A brilliant analysis clearly and engagingly explaining the interlinked problems of fatness, car dependency and climate change. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2011 by BeachedBum
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good book linking two apparently unrelated phenomena - obesity...
Clear, well-argued, and to the point. It makes it clear that fatness is not a personal failing, or the result of wrong choices, but a near-inevitable consequence of the way our... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2011 by Jezza
5.0 out of 5 stars
Your 'must-read' for 2011!
This compelling book is a very enjoyable read, even for those with no medical or scientific background. Author Ian Roberts offers the reader a veritable glut of 'AHA! Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2011 by IsshoniVanessa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Japanese perspective
Although I had been told that I was mentioned in the book - I was really impressed by the idea of the book and the way that it is written. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2010 by Ayumi Naito
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Business, Finance & Law > Economics
- Books > Science & Nature > Earth Sciences & Geography > Education > Higher Education
- Books > Science & Nature > Environment & Ecology > Pollution
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Environment > Pollution
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Government & Politics
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Human Geography
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Sociology
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
