It might look like fun, but these kids are seconds away from a grisly demise
Good news for rickets-fans, as you can now pick up the bone-deforming illness with minimal effort. In fact, all you have to do is play videogames regularly, and you’ll soon find yourself struck down with the disease. The actual report from the Mirror is so earth-shatteringly stupid and unsubstantiated that I’m reluctant to link to it. But here you go anyway – and as a bonus I’ll reproduce the entire article here for your brain-shrinking pleasure:
Cases of rickets in children are rising because they stay indoors playing computer games, experts warned yesterday.
Sunlight helps the body produce vitamin D which prevents the bone-softening condition. Researchers at Newcastle University also blamed changes in diet.
Prof Simon Pearce said: “Kids are staying indoors playing on computers rather than going outside to kick a ball around.”
He said vitamin D should be put in milk.
Changes in diet also blamed, eh? Still, by changes in diet that scientist probably meant Modern Warfare 2.
I also really like the ‘He said vitamin D should be put in milk’ at the end – makes him sound like a mad scientist. And yes, that was the entire article.
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Compare that to the version on The Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jan/22/sharp-rise-vitamin-a-deficiency – which blames suncream, lack of sunlight and ethnic make-up rather than singling out video games. Add Vitamin D to fizzy drinks instead, da kidz don’t want milk.
We need a Leon sequel to make milk relevant to today’s bloodthirsty children…