With the 2020 Olympic Games finally kicking off in Tokyo this month, its been a cause for celebration across the world after this “annus horribilis” stuck at home. There’s no question that sport is a massive part of modern-day culture giving a sense of purpose, identity, and passion to millions of people. So why are we allowing something so central to our culture to become infested with and hijacked by the promotion of chronic diseases such as type2 diabetes? (Why do we say that? Well in so many ways type2 diabetes IS processed food disease!)
Most concerning of all the relationship between junk food and the Olympic games dates back years. For example, during the London Olympics, McDonald’s paid a total of £75 million to extend their Olympic sponsorship from 1976 until 2020.
Meanwhile at the Rio Olympics, Team GB was sponsored by Kellogg’s cereal. From Frosties to Coco Pops, both are insanely high in sugar. Yet we choose to feed them to our children daily. Read one of our latest blogs and find why cereal is not the best breakfast option.
By allowing large food companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s to sponsor the Olympic games, we send the wrong message to our children about ultra-processed foods. These addictive junk foods cause so many cravings including cookies, sweets, fizzy drinks, and crisps. Junk foods “enjoy” a ridiculously long shelf life due to the process of production. We wrote a whole blog about why ultra-processed foods spell D.A.N.G.E.R You can read it here.
By allowing large food companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s to sponsor the Olympic games, we send the wrong message to our children about ultra-processed foods. These addictive junk foods cause so many cravings including cookies, sweets, fizzy drinks, and crisps. Junk foods “enjoy” a ridiculously long shelf life due to the process of production. We wrote a whole blog about why ultra-processed foods spell D.A.N.G.E.R You can read it here.
Instead of teaching our kids to stay away from these highly addictive, laboratory-created fake-foods , we allow the food industry to convince our kids that if your favourite sporting hero is endorsed by {pick your favourite junk-food brand!} it can’t be that bad right?
WRONG!!
A 2018 USA study looking at the sports with the largest young audiences showed that food accounted for over 20% of sponsorships. Of these, ¾ of these foods were highly processed and unhealthy, and over half of the drinks were sugar-sweetened. Allowing these fake-food companies a platform of association with the world’s leading sporting events, bestows a ‘health halo’ label onto them, despite the fact that they are the main reason why newer generations die younger.
This is but one example of how the food industry is manipulating young minds, using sophisticated brand association, to inculcate the false belief that junk foods are healthy.
The BBC recently launched an entire podcast about this topic. Check it out here.
If you are looking to better your health, change your lifestyle, and “Live Healthy for Longer simply contact us here for advice and support. NB we offer all potential clients a free, online consultation. No pressure and entirely without charge. What have you got to lose?