SIRC – Media Watch 07-05-99
Surprise, surprise
A couple of news items this week are worthy of note for teetering precariously on the edge of the ridiculous. In an era in which we appear to be increasingly bombarded by a plethora of 'scientific' studies, it shouldn't really surprise us that Stanford University, California were able to procure funding to conduct a study which concluded that "overweight children can shed pounds by watching less television." The importance of this scientific breakthrough can, however be matched by the University of North Carolina who discovered that "adolescent girls with excess body weight were at a disadvantage compared to their thinner peers when it came to dating." We can only be thankful that those precious grants are not being squandered.
Food choice
Last month Pamela Anderson announced to the world that she had had her breast implants removed. This week Tesco have requested that their fruit suppliers provide them with smaller melons. A tenuous link you may think, but a psychologist working for the supermarket chain has suggested that women shoppers subconsciously compare the size of the galias to that of their chest! Could it be that the current high public profiles of the less curvaceous models may be responsible for fleshier melons remaining unsold? And have Tesco's psychologists considered observing men choosing cucumbers?
An obituary in Friday's Telegraph, paid tribute to the gallant Major John Howard, a veteran of the D-Day landings, who died last week aged 86. Throughout the campaign Major Howard had exhibited "great courage": despite being critically injured he continued to fight and received the DSO for his bravery. In later life the Major continued to display his 'Dunkirk' spirit helping to lead a revolt at his retirement home against the Department of Health's ruling that eggs should only be served hard boiled for health reasons. In letters sent to the local press Major Howard decried the nanny state: "Having survived somewhat greater dangers than breakfast, I really think I should be able to make my own decisions on whether eggs would finish me off."
