McDonalds boss: Games to blame for childhood obesity

The chief executive of McDonald’s UK has hit out at video games for being a major cause of the childhood obesity crisis.

Steve Easterbrook told The Times that the food and drinks industry shared responsibility for the issue with individuals and Government.

But he made special mention of the popularity of games – and said they have reduced the amount of time young people spend outdoors burning off energy”.

The issue of obesity is complex and is absolutely one our society is facing, there’s no denial about that,” said Easterbrook. 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.”

According to The Times, McDonalds UK is ‘on the brink of its best year for two decades’. The firm has enjoyed six per cent like-for-like sales growth in the last year. More than 88 million visits were made to McDonald’s restaurants last month, up 10 million on the previous year.

PHOTO: (Source) www.Timesonline.co.uk

Work in the industry? Email us to air your views in next week’s magazine…