If you felt that today was lacking a few ironic laughs, you'll be pleased to know that Steve Easterbrook, the chief executive for McDonald's UK, has recently blamed videogames and TV for child obesity. While he quasi-admitted that it might also have something to do with the slabs of greasy, processed cow anus in bread that his company sells, Easterbrook has hopped aboard the "blame everything on games" bandwagon to take off some of the heat:
"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."
Of course it's not the fault of McDonald's, they've painted the outside of their restaurants green and now serve SALADS! They've done enough to fight the cause, now it's time that videogames joined the crusade against kiddy tits. Bring on Wii Fit, I say. Bring it on indeed.
On a serious note, it should be pointed out that child obesity, or indeed, any obesity (looks at self) cannot be blamed on games OR food. Kids wouldn't eat fast food or play games all the time if their parents didn't just sit back and let them. Why does NOBODY question lazy parents anymore?
[Cheers for the laugh, Wardrox]
I'd check the nutrition facts on those salads before consuming. Not exactly the height of nutrition there. The thing with parents continually feeding their children this rubbish is that it builds lifelong habits. If they aren't teaching their kids how to at least make a few home cooked meals themselves as soon as they leave the nest fast food is going to be the first place they turn for a meal. I only learned how to cook a few things at home and took a few classes which I can use to teach myself to make other things, but most people I know can't make a grilled cheese sandwich, so an entire meal is out of the question.
Why do people always think exercise is the answer? I lost 15 lbs in college by not eating an entire bag of Doritos at one sitting.
Laziness makes people weak. Gluttony makes people fat.
Lard, it's where all the flavor is hidden.
No one can question parents because no body wants parents on their ass.
Seriously, don't expect the blame to shift where it should be for a while. No parent wants to watch T.V. and hear "You are incompetent."
WHAT?! I'M A GOOD PARENT, BRAWRHGGHH
Hmmm here is an easy study
#1: Have a kid play video games without eating. Does he get fatter? NO
#2: Have a kid eat McDonalds three times a day for a month. Does he get fatter? Hell Yes.
#3: Is Mcdonalds a good food source when exercising? No
haha poop emergency. ive never notice that tag before.
Silly McDonald's, tricks are for kids.
http://www.mcvideogame.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Gladiators
Hmmm... hypocrites?
hummmm McDonalds ArgRggRRGGRgggg
FAIL!
Was meant to say:
http://www.mcvideogame.com/
More like it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Gladiators
Hmmm... hypocrites?
Actually Jim, even though I love how quick you are to defend video games, as it turns out they can be to blame for SOME obesity. That said, if they also had common sense they'd job around the block once in a while.
I just actually came here to tell you how epic that picture is.
job should be yob, but I meant to say JOG.
Carry on, fat lads.
its not just video games and tv that make kids fat... Its books, homework, drawing, painting, studying, and driving among other things you lazy people do while sitting
Video games aren't force feeding you fatty foods, but they are taking time away from outdoor play that kids used to partake in. However, this is hardly the fault of the games themselves, and like Jim said, is mainly because the parents are too afraid to do anything their kids don't like, and don't make them go outside and do anything anymore.
i was thinking about putting a tred mill or something infront of my tv for when i game, but i decided to gain a bunch of weight instead.
now that i got two sarcastic comments out of the way i'll make two serious ones
1. whats really to blame for obesity is fat people... sorry its true.
2. A hunger strike would be a great way to raise obesity awareness
DDR, nomnomnom!
It has nothing to do with greasy ass cheeseburgers or video games. It is about the parents.
Parents raise their kids to be big fat slobs by letting them eat whatever they want whenever they want. And not saying anything to them about it.
You can eat McDonalds (though I won't), you can have a spoonful of lard for all I care. You can play video games.
But if you don't practice it in moderation, you'll see the negative side effects of it. Does anyone realize that too much of any one thing is bad for you? Yes, even masturbation.
Seriously, the issue here is that parents, by and large, do not care about raising their kids, and are too involved in their own lives to be bothered with anything more than basics. If your kids are big boned and fat already, you're condemning your child to a life of poor health to not sit them down and educate them on how to live a healthy lifestyle of moderation.
Its lifestyle, pure and simple. The Japanese play probably 50x more games than American children do and they are not facing an obesity epidemic.
Over here its the removal of green spaces to build more wal-marts and the removal of almost all of the playground equipment that used to be in my city, leaving kids with literately NOTHING to do outside in the summer. A lot of kids play in the streets here but that isn't really safe but its better than nothing since there really isn't anywhere else to play. One thing is for sure if we made exercise seem less like work and more like FUN, then maybe kids would be more willing to go outside and play if they enjoyed what they were doing. You remove playground equipment, charge parking fees to get into any sort of outdoor place where kids can run around, make kids run laps in gym class instead of doing fun activities, feed our kids fatty, nasty food in the schools and we wonder why we have a nation of fat kids.
Its all a perception really, if you spend time around kids you know that they want to run around and play outside, but if you as a parent do not provide that opportunity then they cannot do it, simple as that. I have watched kids in my family put down the video games to go outside, one of my relatives who visited in the summer chose to throw a football in the backyard with the other relatives instead of playing his PSP. They will put down the games if you as a parent take the time to introduce them to something other than video games.
BAH HA HA HA
what a bunch of fags
(argh double post FTL)
Sorry, but fast food is a serious reason as to why most Americans are overweight.
It has a lot to do with cheeseburgers and video games.
If only there was some kind of authrotive figure in a childs life, that controlled what they did to do in moderation. I don't know something like a guardian to a child...oh whats the word I'm looking for here.
Americans are fat because they're full of shit.
(Disclaimer: i'm an American who is smart enough to recognize that i'm surrounded by lazy stupid people)
fat kids are so much easier to hunt.
I don't understand why anyone would eat at McDonald's anyways, besides the fact their golden arches can be seen anywhere in the US. Seriously it's like Sauron peering down on all of us, only more evil.
But damn are their their hashbrowns crunchy and awesome and perfect.
He said there is a lifestyle element...that includes inactivity...often brought on by playing videogames instead of getting outside. He didn't blame obesity completely on videogames. I don't think anyone thinks sitting on the couch is the only factor in the obesity epidemic but we can't pretend it isn't a factor at all.
Funny, I play video games all the time, don't exercise, could stand to have a healthier diet yet I don't eat McDonalds and guess what!? I'm not fat at all... FAIL
Those Bastards!
No comment from the Fry Guys
@ PSI
Yeah, but when you're family looks like
the prospect of an authoritative figure stepping in seems null. I blame vegetables.
I seriously just looked at that headline and thought "lol wut"
I agree with TheBrain.
I am sorry but I don't believe this "blame nothing on video games attitude" is entirely correct. Maybe it is not suitable for a McD's exec to talk about obesity, but, please, physical inactivity is a lot to blame for obesity. Just because he said it doesn't make it wrong:
"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"
So what part of his statement is wrong? Are there more green spaces?
Covah:
I know my neighbour who smoked 2 packs a day, he is 75 years old and he didn't get cancer, so smoking is not bad for health, here's my message to foolish scientists who say smoking is bad: FAIL!
Video games and Tv doesn't make people fat. It just makes them really unhealthy. I got a friend who plays alot of video games and doesn't exercise and he eats McDonalds. Is he fat? Not at all. Does he get sick alot, somewhat weak, and sickly looking? Yes. So i'd just blame inactivity.
@Emrah
I worked with a guy who smoked 2 packs a day and died at 60 of lung cancer. Smoking is bad. Don't get me wrong im not going to tell everyone to stop smoking now but you have to be ignorant to say smoking can't kill you. Unless you were being sarcastic then I recant my statement.
Responsibility comes from choice. Do children have a choice? Most of the time no, the parent does. When they are able to form a rational choice is when responsibility can be placed. Games cant make choices, so they cant ever be responsible for something. Blaming things like games and fast food is reducing the human to a thing by forgetting that we have to choose.
You can play computer games on your TV?
Yes
MCdonalds was a life saver during MAGFest.
Anyway, I'll agree with the people saying he doesn't necessarily blames video games for fat people and with the ones that say video games aren't to blame.
*Nom's on his case of Crackdown*
Lazy parenting makes fat kids, teach them what to eat and why to stay in shape. Fast food is fine in moderation, but as a food staple it will kill you.
Anyone detect a little bit of marketing spin on this? "Oh shit, Burger King just did a wildly successful campaign with a set of three crappy games, how do we respond?"
Also, clowns.
Jim, you might wanna rethink what you said.
we know how this happened. and it was't just a few big macs.
I have not eaten Mcdonalds in about 4 years, that shit is jsut gross.
I can handle wendys and taco bell.
But really, all mcdonalds serves is shit burgers with a side of shit fries.
i hate you ronald...fucker.
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Betrayal
GAY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Eb62VAgro9U
I blame the 60's.
I blame video games on fat kids. Corrupt, villainous game manufacturers have a captive audience made up of children who have gotten winded by the time they've hoisted the 20th chicken nugget.
Why are they're so few posts today? shouldn't there be a million about ces?
Don't look at us! Oh god what's that behind you?! Look quick!!
:runs away:
I blame video game makers for making such good games, that you don't wanna go outside anymore. Damn you game makers and your creative juices and ability to engage us!
@ Pedro - Yes, not a few big macs, but a few dozen. The point here is not that playing videogames all day OR overeating McDonalds will make you fat (because both will,) but that parents are responsible for not putting a stop to bad habits, be they overeating or overplaying. Videogames are no more responsible than McDonalds, but also no less. The ONLY party at fault here is the parents.
Man, I thought the whole "entitled to everything, responsible for nothing" was a purely American phenominon. Apparently it's the whole human race.
I play videogames pretty heavily, and recently I've been losing weight.
I think I have an intestinal worm or something.
I’m on the side of The Brain and Emrah here...the exec said video games are a factor in the obesity epidemic, which, while it may not be something that has been directly proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by a scientific study, is probably true. But the parents are to blame as well. They need to get off their asses once in a while and actually, you know, do some parenting. I didn’t start eating lots of food that wasn’t cooked at home until I went away to college. You know why? Because my mom made sure that it didn’t happen. Also, I had no money in high school. But that’s besides the point, which is that parents need to take responsibility for their kids’ behavior, attitudes, diet, habits, etc., instead of just finding an easy scapegoat (whether it’s video games or McDonald’s).
Pedro: Um, yeah. I already mentioned myself in the original post, but if you wanna drive it home, go wild.
And it's not McDonalds' fault, it's purely down to me. You won't see me shirking responsibility onto anything else for my own fuck ups.
tee hee.
kiddy tits.
Japan doesn't have many public parks and they play as much, or more games than us. They're skinny. Wanna know why? They eat healthy.
Yup the problem is the parents start taking their kids there at a young age. They remember going to mcdonalds, having fun, getting the toy, and that holds through when they grow up. When I was little my mom cooked a lot, we very rarely ate at mcdonalds or any other place for that matter. I know how to cook, and I do. There is a certain satisfaction you get from actually preparing your own food that you don't get from fast food. But a lot of Americans are lazy pieces of shit, and will go there just because they are too lazy to fix themselves something to eat.
Also, if you buy your own food and cook it, you'd be surprised how much money you save by not eating fast food every day.
@Tragic Hero:
It was sarcasm directed at covah.
Fuck McDonalds and their shitty food.
Fast food is unhealthy. It does not make people fat, but it can contribute to that end, if one doesn't exercise some moderation - or exercise.
Similarly, video games can also contribute to obesity, if one has no concept of moderation and spends literally all of their free time sitting in front of the TV playing games.
What's the common link? Moderation. People. If people are tits, then they will be unhealthy. It's not the food's fault and it's not the games' fault. Once again, common sense.
I'm Australian and we have a considerable obesity problem as well, which is amusing considering we like to paint ourselves as a nation that loves sports. Loves sitting on out arses watching sports and drinking beer more like it.
People need to start taking responsibility for themselves and their children, because it's not Mcdonalds and Nintendos place to do it.
Also that headlining picture is hilarious.
I'm too lazy to read through all the comments, so too bad if I'm repeating someone else.
Up here in Canada, Vancouver BC to be exact, there are a number of McDonald's with a game consoles in the play area. Yes, that's right, where there once was slides and plastic balls, they've now got PS2's and XBox's. How interesting.
Fact: playing video games will not actually physically put fat into your body.
I thought it was the crappy balance people eat now, also, why dont they have in-game adverts of a thin person eating a mcdonalds salad and playing a video game? it wouldnt help but they could swing it so they make it seem like they arent just after the advertising etc. but want people to make the connection between balanced diet, excercise (read wii controller and eye toy etc.) and mc donalds being part of the diet of a healthy gamer.
you never knw, it might work on the impressionable
My issue is that these heads are willing to say everything except the one thing that needs to be said. No one talks about the parents, because if you even insinuate that an American mother needs to be a better parent, she'll claw your eyes out while she leaves the stroller in traffic.
oh, mcdonalds, when will your antics ever end?
Jeez, first soda companies, now McDonalds?
@TheStripe
Damned straight. And the only reason this American mother is NOT clawing eyes out is because . . . I don't let my kid play endless amounts of games or eat nothing but completely greasy, unhealthy food. Imagine that.
I'm always completely disappointed anytime I see ANY business making concessions for dumbass reactionary pricks who blame "obesity epidemics" or other such nonsense on things that aren't to blame. McDonald's SHOULDN'T have tried taking on some newer, healthy slant to their menu. They should have fully admitted their food was high in calories and fat (WOW RLY?) and said that if customers can't make better health decisions, then it's certainly not THEIR responsibility to. I mean, I've probably seen healthier green things in a SEWER than a McDonald's salad. Their attempts at "healthy choices" are awful. Fast food isn't healthy, but not everything one eats HAS to be healthy - so long as it's only an infrequent occasion upon which that stuff is eaten.
Jack Thompson, McDonald's, and what seems like a frightening majority of American citizens all need to be told but one thing: there is no problem here except for the imbeciles who are supposed to raise these kids. No kid is getting his hands on a violent game if Mommy or Daddy don't allow it, no kid is having McDonald's for dinner every night unless the parentals go out and buy it. Is your kid rolling up to an EB and buying an overly violent game? What the hell is he doing shopping by himself, or at the very least, haven't you noticed an unexplained game title sitting next to his Xbox?
American parents need to wake the fuck up and stop producing an army of spoiled, lazy, entitlement-driven brats and actually start parenting them.
"Playing computer games on the TV"... how much sense does that make?
I find it a bit surprising that a quote about how we need to better manage our diets and eating habits is even coming from McDonald's... didn't they watch Super Size Me!?
But whatever, I'm off to eat some "cancer sticks" (Mac-y D's Fries) and some "chicken tumors" (Nuggets) right after my WoW binge... then I think I'll sit in front of my TV and play computer games... oh wait, I do that already... and I weigh 135 lbs... that's strange?
@ Bio - The real issue is that it's apparently becoming a western-world-wide epidemic. This tripe isn't coming from an American, but rather a brit. I shudder to think that our idiocy is spreading.
It's VERY VERY hard to blame video games when people are pretty much accepting DDR as the big fat burner these days. At least till wii fit becomes something I guess.
seriously, you can't blame video games when kids were still obese when they used to go back outside and play in the 90s. It's not games, it's kids and their parents not having any intrest to take the extra step further to exercise more and watch what the hell they eat. (like Fatdonalds...one of the main fast food places to make people obese.)
Wii Fit's in every restaurant, run fat kids run!
I think many people forget that McDonalds is supposed to be used as an occasional food source, NOT as a staple of your diet, or even worse yet, your whole diet in some cases. Your really not supposed to eat it more than once a month, and its recommended not to eat it at all. There really is no reason to eat it though, every time I go out there is usually more than one food place to choose from. The only fast foods I can handle are Subway and Taco Bell because if