McDonald's Boss Says Videogames Are Making Kids Fat

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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McDonald's Boss Says Videogames Are Making Kids Fat


Steve Easterbrook, Chief Executive Officer of McDonalds U.K. [http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/], has suggested that the advent of videogames is responsible for the explosion of childhood obesity in Western society.

Easterbrook referred to the obesity epidemic as a "complex" issue, saying that both government and individuals have a role to play, along with the food industry, in ensuring that people eat a balanced diet and take proper care of themselves. He said McDonald's has taken steps recently to improve the quality of its food, noting that salt, sugar and trans-fats have all been reduced from various parts of the restaurants menu. "I don't think there is any definition of what is either a healthy or unhealthy food, but there are healthy and unhealthy diets," he said in an interview with the Times Online [http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article3142221.ece]. "What I have looked to do is broaden out the menu and provide more options for people. If we continue to make quality and nutritional improvements, then we are taking steps to help people's diets."

But he also singled out videogames as a specific cause for the rise in fat kids. "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?" Easterbrook said. "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."

Despite the growing concern over poor health and obesity among children, McDonald's in the U.K. is continuing to experience record-setting growth. In December 2007 alone, the company served over 88 million customers, almost 10 million more than the previous year.


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broadband

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Dec 15, 2007
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well, i consider this reasonable article and all rhat, but, a McDonalds executive? of the UK complaining about obesity in the western society? ha ha ha

as where i know the most unhealthy fast food franchise is this
 

Watershed

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Dec 10, 2007
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Well of course video games are to blame... up to a point. This is a complex issue as the article says, and it has many contributing factors. For example, would kids play video games as often if there were safer places to go out and play? The football field i used to play on as a kid is often covered in broken bottles and glasses now, so where do the kids play? The street is not really much of an option unless you want to play dodge the traffic and its not good to lose at that game. Parents are a lot more wary of letting their children out unsupervised now as well, due to various dangers.

However, my main issue with this statement is that the chief executive of a "restaurant" that invented a salad with more calories than a big mac is blaming videogames. You sure its nothing to do with restaurants like yours? Slightly hypocritical me thinks.
 

oneplus999

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Oct 4, 2007
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Wow, coming from the restaurant that has been successfully sued for making people fat? Wow. Most people think it was just frivolous lawsuits, but it was successfully shown that McDonald's marketed their food as something that you can eat all the time, even though it would KILL YOU if you did, and also that they didn't provide sufficient nutritional information to patrons.

Compare that to videogames, which are obviously the first ever such entertainment device that kept people from being active! The same thing has been said about TV for who knows how long. Do you think it goes back as far as, say, board games? People just spend all day playing Monopoly and never go outside!
 

Dectilon

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Sep 20, 2007
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"I don't think there is any definition of what is either a healthy or unhealthy food, but there are healthy and unhealthy diets,"

Well, think again ~~

Obviously, video games are not making kids fat (except some poor blokes who need to exercise constantly because of some genetical problem, but I'm guessing those are few). The average gamer isn't a fat kid, but a thin kid with no muscle mass. The kids who get fat are the kind that constantly eat chips, drink energy drinks etc while playing.
 

TheCrimsonPunisher

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Dec 31, 2007
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It's not video games fault kids choose to be lazy good-for-nothing woffing down Big Macs like they have 4 stomachs...man I can't believe that used to be me! lol
 

McMo0^

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Dec 21, 2007
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lol its a fair point from the wrong source. It'll be completely ignored cos of McExecutive trying to move attention away from them and towards video games. Havin said that, i've been playing computer games since the c64 days... i must've been what, 6,7 maybe, i've wolfed down my share of bigmacs, and more recently the xl bacon double cheese burgers of burger king. Not an advert, but when salad is replaced with an extra burger, and some bacon, surely nothing but victory. I'm only 13 stone though and 6ft 2... could stand to gain some muscles, but wouldn't say i'm far or scrawny... suppose it just depends on what you do with non video game time...
 

Duck Sandwich

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Dec 13, 2007
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"and kids are sat home playing computer games on the TV"
Don't forget they're always exposing themselves to harmful microwave radiation by microwaving food in the toaster.

"I don't think there is any definition of what is either a healthy or unhealthy food, but there are healthy and unhealthy diets."

So a diet solely consisting of McDonalds food is unhealthy, but McDonalds food itself isn't unhealthy. Wow.

Red Shadow has a good point with doing stuff outside not being much of an option. Nowadays, I go walking or jogging 3-4 times a week, but when I was younger I was more cautious about being outside by myself.
 

SchmattaKid

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Jan 8, 2008
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I guess they can't remember back in 2005 when McDonald's and Nintendo had in game tie ins.
Ackhem!:

Outside the home, when a user brings a Nintendo DS unit and a Wi-Fi-enabled game into a Wayport-enabled McDonald's restaurant locations, the user simply launches the game in Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection mode. No setup is required.
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:tYuWP91eYbgJ:www.gamersgame.com/cgi-bin/ggblog.pl%3Fggblog%3D1114051+nintendo+64+mcdonalds&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us&client=firefox-a

SO aside from pushing Mario Cart over kids climbing through pee tinged ball rooms, the 650 Calorie Happy Meal couldn't have anything to do with our porcine little ones.
 

Melty Blood

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Dec 22, 2007
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I wouldn't take a comment like this seriously, but the fact that it's coming from McDonald's is so laughably and painfully obvious that it's a silly attempt to shift blame elsewhere.

Usually, I have a hard time nailing if all the corperate executives are cunning and sly, or are a bunch of chimps. Currently the scale tips towards chimps.
 

Rinor

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Oct 26, 2006
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I guess they just try to depress gamers as a sales trick to make them go buy food from the nearest McDonalds to comfort themselves by the fact they are fat because of playing TV(/computer ehm?) games. I guess it's a perfectly well planned sales trick since you got a McDonalds around each corner these days (in New York at least). Anyway it's not the games that make you fat, but the fact that some hardly move, you can be perfectly healthy as long you walk to places each day, burn up some of those calories kinda..
 

ZippyDSMlee

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Sep 1, 2007
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Really..I thought it was companies with a divested interest in feeding kids junk foods...sure I would stipulate that gaming is not "pure" but its like habanero calling a pepporcini a pepper... sure bot are peppers but one can incapacitate!
 

Gummy

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Oct 24, 2007
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Thats Rich
People who are CEOs of Glass House Franchises shouldnt throw stones (or in this case hurl sh*t)

When will people take responsibility for their own health and actions, and those of their kids. stop looking to the government or corporations for advice/scapegoats/lawsuits.