McDonalds Says: Video Games Make You Fat

bpmurrGT said:
Nah, if you play Wii Sports the right way it burns a lot more. Heck a guy even lost weight using it as his workout. I never head of a person loosing weight doing the McDonalds diet.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me#Alternative_experiments

Don't blindly believe the media. Read up for yourself always.

And if anyone reads this article, the headline of it is misleading. He specifically said food and drink industry SHARE the blame. Video games are also to blame. As well as TV. Who is going to argue with this?

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”.
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It's true. I spent a ton of time outside when I was a kid. Nowadays I see my nephews and nieces and they are never outside, for fear of kidnapping and plus they watch a ton of TV and video games. But my sisters and brothers are smart, their kids are nowhere near overweight (of course they're all freaking doctors).

Fast food and junk food have been around since the 50's and earlier. TV dinners have been around for decades. What has changed? The lifestyle has become more sendentary.
 
If you know anything about general health, etc... you will know that exercise only makes up 10-20% of your burned calories for the day, and 20% is only if you work your ass off so hard for hours you are DRENCHED in sweat. The other 90-80% is from diet.

Blaming video games for obesity is so absurd its laughable. Fucking laughable... 1600 calorie meals (fries, burger, coke) is close to what someone on a diet should be taking in for the whole day.

Also - I have read diet books that actually feel playing video games is okay, because unlike watching...say...a football game, your hands are BUSY, therefore, your not inclined to randomly grab another handful of chips and chug down a case of beer. It is true, too, I can play a 2 hour game of DOTA on WC3 and not even notice any hunger.

ANYONE who finds video games to blame for obesity is sick, and you really need to do some reading.
 
those video games must have an enourmous amount of fat compared to those Big Macs... :rolleyes: :p
 
Anyway why are we even arguing if it's video games, if it's MACdonalds, if it's BK. If it's the freaking cake your mom baked you. These are all factors. McDonalds isn't in your dining room shoving the burger down and gunpoint. Someone made a choice to go there and buy it. It's either the person's fault, or their parents (if they are young). Plain and simple. Could McDonalds do more to educate. Sure. Are they obligated to? That's debatable. A slice of cheesecake is like 700 calories. Ice cream is high in calories.

It's all personal choice and people need to stop blaming others. Contrary to posts in this thread, my metabolism hit a wall when I turned 25. I am very inactive (but slim by nature). I got tubby. Not fat mind you, but where I came from I considered myself fat, relatively. Did I blame macdonalds? No. Cuz I ate at all fast food places. I ate at restaurants. I indulged. I, I, I. I'ts my fucking fault.
 
I don't know how the thread got whacked into where it is now :confused:


This was simply a case of "The Pot Calling The Kettle Black" ....you know humor at the expense of hypocrits and so on, now all the sudden it is an argument. Holy cow! :eek:
 
There isn't really a debate here that the real fault lies within a persons choices, its the fact that its coming from the greasy fat fingers of McDonalds owners. Which is fucking disgusting, I hope people are stupid as that hang themselves.
 
That's bullshit. I lost freaking 70lbs by eating healthier. I cut out milk and fast food.

I gamed more during that year than *ever* to deal with the constant hunger.
 
let me think ..... one hand on the keyboard , other hand on the mouse , eyes fixed on the monitor so i dont get killed .... how im gonna eat burgers while gaming ???:rolleyes:
 
Haha.


Well if Fast Food doesn't make you fat and video games does... then can someone answer me this.


Why is it that we Americans are the fattest people in the world, we also just happened to have the highest Fast Food restaurants per capita than anyone else.

And why does Japan, South Korea, and other countries who strive on gaming have such a low obesity ratio?



Food makes you fat, nothing else can make you fat.
 
Cyraxx said:
If you know anything about general health, etc... you will know that exercise only makes up 10-20% of your burned calories for the day, and 20% is only if you work your ass off so hard for hours you are DRENCHED in sweat. The other 90-80% is from diet.

Blaming video games for obesity is so absurd its laughable. Fucking laughable... 1600 calorie meals (fries, burger, coke) is close to what someone on a diet should be taking in for the whole day.

Also - I have read diet books that actually feel playing video games is okay, because unlike watching...say...a football game, your hands are BUSY, therefore, your not inclined to randomly grab another handful of chips and chug down a case of beer. It is true, too, I can play a 2 hour game of DOTA on WC3 and not even notice any hunger.

ANYONE who finds video games to blame for obesity is sick, and you really need to do some reading.
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There are some cases in which dedicated gamers (cough wow and eq) starved to death from lack of nutrition. I find it had to remember to eat when I am really into a game myself... if I'm watching TV, I always have a snack or two with me... but when I'm gaming, I hardly eat.
 
Ockie said:
Haha.


Well if Fast Food doesn't make you fat and video games does... then can someone answer me this.


Why is it that we Americans are the fattest people in the world, we also just happened to have the highest Fast Food restaurants per capita than anyone else.

And why does Japan, South Korea, and other countries who strive on gaming have such a low obesity ratio?



Food makes you fat, nothing else can make you fat.
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We have the highest Fast Food restaurants per capita because we are fat, we are not fat because of it.

They wouldn't build all of them if people didn't put the demand there.
 
it's not just video games, it's TV and internet. people will gorge themselves and then sit planted in front of a TV or computer and just lounge and then eat some more.
the only exercise they get is walking from the TV to the fridge and bathroom.
 
Ockie said:
Haha.


Well if Fast Food doesn't make you fat and video games does... then can someone answer me this.


Why is it that we Americans are the fattest people in the world, we also just happened to have the highest Fast Food restaurants per capita than anyone else.

And why does Japan, South Korea, and other countries who strive on gaming have such a low obesity ratio?



Food makes you fat, nothing else can make you fat.
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Did you read the article? Not just the headline that the article used? I quoted it earlier. The guy said the food and drink industry SHARES the blame, but is not the sole reason. Fast food restaurants have been around for ages. He never said fast food doesn't make them fat.

Food and excercise are two factors to weight and health. You can compenstate for one with the other. I.e., excercise a lot, you can slack a little in food. Excercise a little or none at all, you can eat a bit less or healthier and maintain a BMI etc. The act of gaming itself doesnt make you fat. But it keeps kids away from physical activities, AND it may also encourage fast food eating, a double whammy. Who here hasn't grabbed some fast food because they were lazy to make something to eat when gaming? I know I have.

Funny you mention Japan, SK and other countries who strive on gaming but don't have our obesity problems yet (they are getting there). They also have probably the same fast food restaurants we do. So what's the difference? Their culture as of right now doesn't have them eating these restaurants constantly. It's personal choice and decision, not video games, not mcdonalds.
 
Regardless of the individual who blames, or gets blamed, it still comes down to one important issue:

YOU are responsible for what you eat. Unless you have a genetic problem (yes, obesity can be genetic), or unless there had been a conspiracy by the local restaurant that dumped in extra fat at every opportunity (you'd notice this, by the way), it's your own damn fault for becoming fat.

If you are a child, maybe your parents spoiled you, but you should have taken the initiative to go play outside.

If you are an adult, then get off the couch, quit stuffing your face full of Ho Ho's and cupcakes, and go excercise. If you can't excercise, that's fine; substitute some celery sticks (yes, you can even have fat-free Ranch dressing with them) for those shovels of ice cream.

Excercise some restraint when it comes to eating. As long as YOU realize that not taking in more calories than you need is important, and as long as YOU practice this, then you won't get fat.

Remember, blaming video games for kids becoming fat is just as stupid as blaming the manufacturers of spoons for making Rosie O'Dunghole morbidly obese!
 
deeznuts said:
Did you read the article? Not just the headline that the article used? I quoted it earlier. The guy said the food and drink industry SHARES the blame, but is not the sole reason. Fast food restaurants have been around for ages. He never said fast food doesn't make them fat.
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Coming from McDonald's, there is quite a lot of motivation on their part to shed their image.

I don't think you can get Subway for instance to agree with McDonald's statement. Now that would make for an interesting argument.

deeznuts said:
Food and excercise are two factors to weight and health. You can compenstate for one with the other. I.e., excercise a lot, you can slack a little in food. Excercise a little or none at all, you can eat a bit less or healthier and maintain a BMI etc. The act of gaming itself doesnt make you fat. But it keeps kids away from physical activities, AND it may also encourage fast food eating, a double whammy. Who here hasn't grabbed some fast food because they were lazy to make something to eat when gaming? I know I have.
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With this reasoning, anything can keep you from physical activities and encourages fast food eating. Jobs, TV, books, newspaper, radio, etc etc etc. Everything is a player, however, the bigger player is a meal (not a meal, I mean burger alone) that is the poster child of a company (big mac) that accounts for over 60% of your Daily value in Saturated Fats, 50% in total fat, and 38% of your DV in cholesterol. This is also without cheese.

So now you come and tell me who the hippocrite is.

deeznuts said:
Funny you mention Japan, SK and other countries who strive on gaming but don't have our obesity problems yet (they are getting there).
[/qupte]

You say "yet" as if it was factual. Facts are numbers which are proven to be right now as of this moment, not a general unscientific assumption.

deeznuts said:
They also have probably the same fast food restaurants we do.
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Some of the same resturants are there and not nearly as many and their menus are very diffrent. Try going to Canada for instance and find a McDonnalds... now compare that in the US, you literally don't have to travel more than 5 miles to get one.

Asian cultures typically eat better than we do and rely less on fast food. Yes there are exceptions to every rule, but quite honestly, have you ever been there? They have been into hardcore gaming before we even commonly knew what "broadband" was.... yet, even with their addiction to gaming, obesity isn't nearly as bad as it is in the USA.

However, on the other side of the coin, obesity is outrageous in the USA, but gaming still hasn't take place as a major activity. Broadband is still trying to reach the remote areas of the continent and gaming is hardly televised (which is is heavily in SK for instance).

deeznuts said:
So what's the difference? Their culture as of right now doesn't have them eating these restaurants constantly. It's personal choice and decision, not video games, not mcdonalds.
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Very contradictory statement there.
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Unabomber said:
Regardless of the individual who blames, or gets blamed, it still comes down to one important issue:

YOU are responsible for what you eat. Unless you have a genetic problem (yes, obesity can be genetic), or unless there had been a conspiracy by the local restaurant that dumped in extra fat at every opportunity (you'd notice this, by the way), it's your own damn fault for becoming fat.

If you are a child, maybe your parents spoiled you, but you should have taken the initiative to go play outside.

If you are an adult, then get off the couch, quit stuffing your face full of Ho Ho's and cupcakes, and go excercise. If you can't excercise, that's fine; substitute some celery sticks (yes, you can even have fat-free Ranch dressing with them) for those shovels of ice cream.

Excercise some restraint when it comes to eating. As long as YOU realize that not taking in more calories than you need is important, and as long as YOU practice this, then you won't get fat.

Remember, blaming video games for kids becoming fat is just as stupid as blaming the manufacturers of spoons for making Rosie O'Dunghole morbidly obese!
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QFT.
 
Ockie said:
Coming from McDonald's, there is quite a lot of motivation on their part to shed their image.

I don't think you can get Subway for instance to agree with McDonald's statement. Now that would make for an interesting argument.
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You don't get Jared skinny just by eating at Subway, I'll tell you that. Go ahead and get their 12 inch with full mayo etc. Subway does have that health angle but in a way they are just as misleading. But they do provide and promote the healthier choices.


With this reasoning, anything can keep you from physical activities and encourages fast food eating. Jobs, TV, books, newspaper, radio, etc etc etc. Everything is a player, however, the bigger player is a meal (not a meal, I mean burger alone) that is the poster child of a company (big mac) that accounts for over 60% of your Daily value in Saturated Fats, 50% in total fat, and 38% of your DV in cholesterol. This is also without cheese.
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Yes, anything and everything is a "player. I have stated earlier in this thread, it's the sedentary lifestyle that is contributing. Couple this with fast food, and you get fat. I eat fast food more times than I should each and every week (lazy, don't have my own place like I used to so I hate cooking in other people's kitchen) but hit the gym often enough. The gym replaced physical activities I used to do when younger. My nephews eat McDonalds several times a week, they have a PS3, Wii, and Xbox but their parents ensure everything is in moderation make them go to baseball/basketball camp etc. and they are just fine. I never said Fast food wasn't a huge factor. I'm saying its not the only factor. I do know from reading up on nutrition/health/weightlifting that diet is the major factor. I'm arguing it's not the only factor. I'm also arguing diet isn't Mcdonal'ds fault, it's the person's fault.

So now you come and tell me who the hippocrite is.
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Hmm not sure. Is it the hippo in africa blaming McDonald's for being 3,000 lbs? :p

You say "yet" as if it was factual. Facts are numbers which are proven to be right now as of this moment, not a general unscientific assumption.
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wah? Don't even know where that came from[/quote]

Some of the same resturants are there and not nearly as many and their menus are very diffrent. Try going to Canada for instance and find a McDonnalds... now compare that in the US, you literally don't have to travel more than 5 miles to get one.
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Don't argue with you there. They will only open if there is a demand for it. In the US there is a demand for it because people want it, they make a choice to eat it.

Asian cultures typically eat better than we do and rely less on fast food. Yes there are exceptions to every rule, but quite honestly, have you ever been there? They have been into hardcore gaming before we even commonly knew what "broadband" was.... yet, even with their addiction to gaming, obesity isn't nearly as bad as it is in the USA.
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Yes I have been there. South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines. And an overnight stay in Hong Kong. Gaming doesn't require broadband by the way (I was a hardcore gamer with the atari 2600, asteroids was bundled). But everything you said proves my point. They have fast food, they choose not to eat it as often, they aren't as fat.

However, on the other side of the coin, obesity is outrageous in the USA, but gaming still hasn't take place as a major activity. Broadband is still trying to reach the remote areas of the continent and gaming is hardly televised (which is is heavily in SK for instance).
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Again, you equate broadband with gaming. Online gaming is only a recent phenomenon. America is the largest gaming country in the world I believe. Per Capita maybe some other countries are higher. But I still don't see your point. I'm arguing it's sedentary lifestyle coupled with poor diet, both results of personal choice. You have gaming, TV, internet, etc. etc. You cannot argue with the explosion of video games over time. It's much bigger than it was when I first started.



Very contradictory statement there.
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please explain where you see a contradiction.
 
Wow I'm bored at work. To summarize that stupidly long post above. I place the blame not on Mcdonalds, not on gaming, but on choices we or parents make for their kids.
 
deeznuts said:
Wow I'm bored at work. To summarize that stupidly long post above. I place the blame not on McDonald's, not on gaming, but on choices we or parents make for their kids.
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You must be, I do not even have the time to respond to that :eek: Yes, you are what you eat, I agree with that. But for a company such as McDonald's to accuse video games the culprit of making people fat is absurd... especially when their icon meal provides more than an entire days worth of DV.

Basically all I am saying is that someone like McDonald's have absolutely no room to talk about what is healthy and what isn't, especially considering their menu and their own health track record.
 
Ockie said:
Basically all I am saying is that someone like McDonald's have absolutely no room to talk about what is healthy and what isn't, especially considering their menu and their own health track record.
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You are right. The whole story is about "the pot calling the kettle black," I have no idea where all this other stuff came from. We only posted the story because it was funny watching the hypocrites in the article point fingers.

All this arguing is just forum fodder.

Seriously, next people will be claiming that all people with no arms and legs that live on a diet of candy and soda pop all can't be skinny. Obviously they eat bad and don't exercise...so they have to be fat...right???
 
Steve said:
I damn near choked on my Big Mac when I heard that McDonalds is actually blaming video games for obesity! What the!?!?! Thanks to [H] forum member Stormwalker for the linkage.
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Pot, meet kettle.

I dunno, one of the local McDonald's near me (one of the 'fancier' ones,) has four Nintendo 64s in its kids play area. (They've had them since the N64 was new.) I guess McD's didn't realize that some of their stores still have those.
 
Now if video game developers would just start making more immersing games, the kids wouldn't get bored after half an hour and go raid the cupboards and fridge. Or ask mommy and daddy for a happy meal. :D
 
deeznuts said:
Hmm not sure. Is it the hippo in africa blaming McDonald's for being 3,000 lbs? :p
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Not in Africa, but there were two hippos in the USA in the guise of two preteen girls, each over 200 lbs, who tried to sue McDonald's, since they couldn't stop themselves from shovelling down copius amounts of Happy Meals.
 
Just because McDonalds contributes (a lot) to people getting fat, doesnt mean that he doesnt have a point. The fact is, more kids went outside, and ran around playing, than they do now. With video games, and others things (myspace) keeping kids inside.
 
fallguy said:
Just because McDonalds contributes (a lot) to people getting fat, doesnt mean that he doesnt have a point. The fact is, more kids went outside, and ran around playing, than they do now. With video games, and others things (myspace) keeping kids inside.
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I'd also add kidnappers to that. Parents are paranoid these days. When I was young, I would go unsupervised around my neighborhood into canyons across major streets etc. not even coming home until nightime. Now if I don't see my nephew for three seconds I'm running around asking where he is. It's definitely changed.
 
deeznuts said:
I'd also add kidnappers to that. Parents are paranoid these days. When I was young, I would go unsupervised around my neighborhood into canyons across major streets etc. not even coming home until nightime. Now if I don't see my nephew for three seconds I'm running around asking where he is. It's definitely changed.
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Thats just the mass media doing its job to put fear into the mass population. ;)
 
deeznuts said:
I'd also add kidnappers to that. Parents are paranoid these days. When I was young, I would go unsupervised around my neighborhood into canyons across major streets etc. not even coming home until nightime. Now if I don't see my nephew for three seconds I'm running around asking where he is. It's definitely changed.
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I will agree that times have changed. I was out all day, and just had to check in from time to time growing up, being gone 12 hours at a time. I grew up in Alaska, and the Summers went on forever. I would be out at 11pm, and it still be day light. 10 years old, riding my bike all over town, not a care in the world. I would not let my 9 year old do that now, which is pretty sad. I think she would be fine, but the fact is, times are not the same.

And Im sure a lot of it is media, as the above poster mentioned. They report almost nothing but bad news, and it does make an impact. Its also cold, hard, facts.
 
Here's an interesting fact for you guys to chew on. Soft drinks causes obesity more than anything, including McDonald's greasy food and lack of exercise. Why? Simple. Calories in soft drinks doesn't make you full like the calories found in food, yet both types of calories are fattening. You can drink cans after cans after cans of soda and have thousands of calories in you before you're ever full and exercising is hard-pressed to keep up with it. Not so much with food. You get full and stop eating.
 
Azhar said:
Here's an interesting fact for you guys to chew on. Soft drinks causes obesity more than anything, including McDonald's greasy food and lack of exercise. Why? Simple. Calories in soft drinks doesn't make you full like the calories found in food, yet both types of calories are fattening. You can drink cans after cans after cans of soda and have thousands of calories in you before you're ever full and exercising is hard-pressed to keep up with it. Not so much with food. You get full and stop eating.
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Plus, because caffeine actually dehydrates you, caffeinated soft drinks slow down your metabolism.
 
deeznuts said:
Anyway why are we even arguing if it's video games, if it's MACdonalds, if it's BK. If it's the freaking cake your mom baked you. These are all factors. McDonalds isn't in your dining room shoving the burger down and gunpoint. Someone made a choice to go there and buy it. It's either the person's fault, or their parents (if they are young). Plain and simple. Could McDonalds do more to educate. Sure. Are they obligated to? That's debatable. A slice of cheesecake is like 700 calories. Ice cream is high in calories.

It's all personal choice and people need to stop blaming others. Contrary to posts in this thread, my metabolism hit a wall when I turned 25. I am very inactive (but slim by nature). I got tubby. Not fat mind you, but where I came from I considered myself fat, relatively. Did I blame macdonalds? No. Cuz I ate at all fast food places. I ate at restaurants. I indulged. I, I, I. I'ts my fucking fault.
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Completely agree. I've discussed this more than a few times in my Health and sociology class. It's a personal choice mostly. No one is forcing a burger down their throats. Their parents can educate them and teach them more than anyone when they are young. When they get older, they know better and if they want to lose weight it's up to them to do so to make a lifestyle choice for themselves. I have seen enough people do this. When a child's parents' are obese, that child is more likely to grow up following what their parents do though.

There really are so many contributing factors that you cannot blame it on one thing. Parents', schools -soda machines, unhealthy meals, breaks to fast food lack of school funding, certain schools cutting PE as a class because of underachievers for NCLB-, video games, TV, Computers, cars etc. It might only get worse.
 
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