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The CEO of McDonald’s in the UK, Steve Easterbrook, does admit that fast food restaurants play a role in childhood obesity; however, he says that the main reason is due to video games. The reason, he says, is because the kids that play games are spending less time outside “burning off energy.”

Steve Easterbrook told the Times that people need a better education when it comes to dieting and taking care of themselves, which I thought was rather ironic. He also says, “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.”

Let’s not forget the fact that McDonalds markets pretty heavily to kids. While they have made some attempts to offer a few healthy selections on their menu, I don’t see them taking off the hamburger or fries anytime soon. So I really don’t think McDonalds is a credible source to blame childhood obesity on video games.

Just for clarification, I am not one who believes that fast food causes obesity, nor do I believe that video games cause obesity. Easterbrook did have a point when he said, “The issue of obesity is complex and is absolutely one our society is facing, there’s no denial about that.” However, pointing the blame to video games is not a way to help address this issue.

image source: abcnews.com

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