Higher Gas Prices Equals Lower Mortality?

"There’s a bevy of factors behind the surging waistlines of Americans: processed foods, television, videogames, computers, fewer laborious jobs, more service-oriented jobs. But one factor floats just below the oily surface of our largesse: cheap gas. Charles Courtemanche, an economist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has produced a study suggesting that permanent hikes in gas prices may slash obesity rates. The amount is hardly nominal: A sustained $1 increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline equals a 10% dip in the nation’s obesity rate--that’s about 9 million fewer obese people clogging up health care systems and costing society (and themselves) money."