In disappointing news for dietitians worldwide, McDonald’s fast food restaurants in New Zealand have signed a deal with the multinational weight loss company Weight Watchers to promote some of its meals as ideal for dieters. Some of the meals will now be marked with the Weight Watchers logo, as well as the logo placed on its menu boards and tray mats. Weight Watchers will also promote McDonald’s to dieters. This follows the move three years ago when McDonald’s put the Heart Foundation’s tick on seven meals, including burgers and nuggets. The three meals to have the Weight Watchers endorsement are nuggets (1560 kilojoules), a Filet-O-Fish (1390kJ) and a sweet chilli seared chicken wrap (1640kJ), all served with salad.
This is said to be as part of a push by McDonalds to change its image, but cynics like myself say that it is part of a push by McDonalds to make more money. And why wouldn’t they, that is what they are expected to do. Unfortunately too many people will be conned by the endorsement by Weight Watchers, and enter their stores and end up buying other things on the menu. Even if a mum goes in and buys one of the healthier choices, and feels great about her Weight Watchers meal, she will likely still buy the kids burgers and fries. Don’t be fooled people. Fast food can be part of your diet, just in moderation. And if you are treating yourself, why not buy what you are going to enjoy the most, which may not necessarily have the tick from Weight Watchers.
Tags: fast food·McDonalds·weight watchers·weightloss
Did you hear about Ghana’s first ever participant at the Winter Olympics, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong (nicknamed the ‘Snow Leopard’)? He competed in the men’s alpine skiing slalom event, finishing in 47th (2nd last) place. I did, but I did not hear about who won. It is another reminder of why I don’t get too excited about the Winter Olympics. The media think that it is more important to fill up their coverage time with human interest stories rather than the sporting results. As a sporting fan I watch sport to see the action, the competitiveness and the champions. At each Olympics the same thing seems to happen – the media outlets focus their telecast towards the common man, non sports fan, who are more interested in gossip and drama.
Tags: Ghana·Winter Olympics
Young Australian rising star tennis player Bernard Tomic had a few complaints after his second-round match at the Australian Open against Marin Cilic finished at 2.10am local time. The 17-year-old Tomic was given a wildcard into the tournament, and played well against the vastly more experienced 14th seed Croatian, pushing him to five sets over the course of three hours and 48 minutes. However, Tomic let himself down, and embarrassed many Australians with his comments after the match. He said that if he got the day schedule as requested, that “I think I should have won” … “I can’t see after 1.00am, 2.00am for a 17-year-old to go out and play – It’s difficult.” Welcome to the big world. There are other players who have been playing at these times and winning tournaments. If he wants to be a top 10 player, which he says he does, he will have to learn to handle playing at any time, and he will need to learn to be more gracious in defeat. No excuses.
Related Pages: Australian Open, Grand Slam Tennis, About Tennis
Tags: australian open·Bernard Tomic·grand slam·Tennis
I am a big believer in introducing a junk food tax to make those who eat unhealthy food subsidize their own health care, to encourage the public to eat healthily and cut obesity rates. And it is great to see that Taiwan is planning to be the first government to introduce such a tax on junk food. They are looking at introducing this special tax on food that is deemed unhealthy, such as sugary drinks, candy, cakes, fast food and alcohol. The Bill is expected to be submitted to the Parliament for approval next year and could take effect sometime in 2011. Let’s hope this starts a worldwide trend, as hitting people in the hip pocket seems an effective way to make people change their behavior.
Tags: fat tax·obesity
December 22nd, 2009 · Sport
If you have been to this site before, you would have noticed a new look. With just a few tweaks I think it looks much better. The navigation bar at the top now makes a lot more sense, and hopefully everyone can find what they are after. Any comments appreciated.
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November 27th, 2009 · Golf
The news is only just coming through about Tiger Woods‘ car accident, where he backed into a fire hydrant and then ran into a neighbor’s tree. Of course these things happen every day, but not usually to the world’s best sportsperson. Maybe he should have used a driver (golf drive , get it?). The police were quick to say that alcohol was not involved. So what was? The initial reports had him in a serious condition, but later being released from hospital being ‘fine’ with minor face lacerations. As the media do not seem to really know, I am going to say what I think happened. His wife who recently had a baby was awake with a crying baby in the middle of the night, woke Tiger asking him to rush down the street for some more milk. In his half-awake confused condition he thought he was still in Australia and started driving down the wrong side of the road. He was so focused on his goal, that he failed to notice a fire hydrant and tree in his way. Of course a more correct version of events will come out in due course.
Related Pages: golf, Tiger Woods profile
Tags: accident·Tiger Woods
