McDonald's Blames Childhood Obesity on Computer Games?
Hold onto your coffee, because it's time to play "Blame That Video Game!" Well, sort of. According to MCV (amplified by game news sites and gossip blogs) McDonald's UK boss Steve Easterbrook is fingering the interactive entertainment industry as "a major cause of the childhood obesity crisis."
Or is he? Here's what Easterbrook actually said in the original The Times article (my emphasis):
I don't know who is to blame. The issue of obesity is complex and is absolutely one our society is facing, there's no denial about that, but if you break it down I think there's an education piece: how can we better communicate to individuals the importance of a balanced diet and taking care of themselves? Then there's a lifestyle element: 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.
Miss the part where he "blames" video games? Me too. It's the line where, after calling obesity a "complex" issue, he refers to "a lifestyle element" and offers a few plainly non-all-inclusive examples.
Think he's being taken out of context? I do, and I'm no fan of McDonald's (I haven't eaten at a Mickey-D or BK in over a decade after getting food poisoning from an undercooked chicken sandwich). Why pick on this guy? Because he's an easy target. Because fast food probably won't be winning any health awards this side of the twenty-first century. Because "McDonald's Blames Video Games" is a nifty attention grabber.
So no, the CEO of McDonald's didn't blame video games for childhood obesity. He simply referenced a fact: that kids are more sedentary today than they were several decades ago, and offered a few perfectly reasonable examples of what they're doing while sitting on their duffs.
Do games make you fat? Of course not. You choose how and when you game, just like you choose a Big Mac instead of a salad or to fire a gun (it didn't fire itself) or to tap a smoke from a carton and light up.
We could solve the obesity crisis tomorrow, just like that. Snap. Over and done with. It's called self-discipline and moderation and exercise and responsibility. That's all I see this guy referencing.
Anyone have a problem with that?
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How Ironic that the place that has a clown and the first to have that teletubbies type feel, and market it towards children say that Gaming is the reason why we have child obesity! Nice! Actually, it really is Parents and not either of these. If you can't control what your kids eat and how long they play games, then there is a problem with you parenting.