Thursday 11 October 2012

No. Sitting doesn't make you obese. Eating too much does.

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Some halfwit American psychologist wants to ban television because it makes us obese. Trust me folks this man is a weapons grade nutcase:

On average, he says, a British teenager spends six hours a day looking at screens at home – not including any time at school. In North America, it is nearer eight hours. But, says Sigman, negative effects on health kick in after about two hours of sitting still, with increased long-term risks of obesity and heart problems.

No. Eating too much makes you obese not watching the telly. If Prof. Sigman believes otherwise then he really doesn't deserve the title "scientist".

There are 24 hours in the day and the child will spend around ten of them asleep. That leaves around eight hours of other stuff. But the clue to this lies elsewhere in the article (in the Guardian, now leading the way in nannying fussbucketry). This is about ensuring children lead a purposeful life - lying about doing fun stuff because it's fun can't be healthy can it?

The RCPH's Professor Blair said there were some simple steps parents could take, "such as limiting toddler exposure as much as possible, keeping TVs and computers out of children's bedrooms, restricting prolonged periods of screen time (we would recommend less than two hours a day) and choosing programmes that have an educational element."

If sitting watching a screen is bad, it doesn't matter what you're watching surely? Or is there some magic dust that flows from "educational" content that stops kids dying from watching the goggle box?

This is a classic piece of New Puritan propaganda. We must have a purposeful life and the over-riding purpose of life is for it to be a long as possible. Health is everything and any pleasure that does not serve this purpose must be stopped.

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1 comment:

Jonathan Bagley said...

"choosing programmes that have an educational element"

Yes, he showed his true colours there. Just as you won't find ASH or Alcohol Concern seeking bans on skiing and horse riding. This morning I was wondering how these people would respond to a questionnaire asking what activities made them happy. I'll wager they involve children and family life and fresh air and exercise.

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