Lack of Exercise, Not Burgers Leads to Childhood Obesity: McDonald's Head

Fast food chain McDonald's head in Australia says that there is no doubt that children are growing fat because they do not exercise as much as they used to.

Chief Executive Peter Bush insists that a research conducted by McDonald's has revealed that the food chain provides just one in every 72 meals an average child eats.

"You've got to look at those other 71 meals kids consume that often come out of the cupboard at home," news.com.au quoted him as telling a federal parliamentary inquiry into obesity in Sydney.

"Where we sit on this is that we probably look at it as a very perplexing and complicated issue. Certainly the studies have indicated that the issue is linked to a change on lifestyle - kids exercising less, watching more TV, kids playing video games," he added.

He even claimed that most pre-existing data blaming fast food for a rise in obesity amongst kids were inconclusive.

"When the very first obesity summit was held in Sydney in October 2002, my predecessor sat through the two days of that session. Through that time, overwhelming evidence was presented, but not substantiated, that fast food was the culprit," he said.

"What also emerged at that time was there were very few studies completed worldwide at that stage," he added.

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Bush further said that most parents did not allow their kids to walk to school anymore for fear of crime, which is why children are increasingly becoming obese.

The House of Representatives standing committee inquiry, which began in May, is looking at the increasing prevalence of obesity and future implications for the health system.

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Source-ANI
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