This week, I was forwarded an article from a colleague where McDonald's UK boss is
quoted blaming computer games for being a main catalyst, amongst other factors
of course, of obesity in children.
I had to read the introduction a few times to make sure we were talking
about McDonald's the fast food giant that sells burger meals at 1,000 calories
a pop…
Talking about the issue of obesity in children, the company's UK chief
executive Steve Easterbrook told The Times: "There’s fewer green spaces
and kids are sat home playing computer games on the TV when in the past they’d
have been burning off energy outside."
He also added: "How can we better communicate to individuals the
importance of a balanced diet and taking care of themselves?" Hmm… Let me
think…
His argument is that the issue is not about healthy or unhealthy 'food' but
more about healthy or unhealthy 'diets'. Maybe that's just the answer.
Meanwhile, research published this week show that chewing sugar-free gum (well lots
of it) can really make you thin, unsurprisingly. Indeed, excessive intake of
sorbitol, a sweetener commonly used in sugar-free chewing gum can lead to
weight loss and diarrhoea, a team of German doctors has warned.
The laxative effects of a high consumption of sorbitol are widely known and
sweets and gum containing the substance have a label on their packaging.
But the big news is that taking more than 20 grams per day of the sweetener
may lead to severe weight loss – up to a whopping 20 per cent of body weight,
according to the research published in this week's British Medical Journal. Keeping
in mind that to reach that level you would have to chew over 15 gums a day… The
researchers reported that patients regained weight after starting a
sorbitol-free diet though.
I am picturing children binging on Big Macs while ingesting entire packets
of sugar-free gums at once to compensate…