Blog Archive
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2009
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October
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- News Today, November 01, 2009 (2)
- the annual Village Halloween Parade October 31, 20...
- This Is It makes $20m in one day
- In love with Cinque Terre
- Top 5: Date Ideas You Can Do Naked
- Defriending can bruise your 'digital ego'
- Is Trick-or-Treating Dangerous?
- Cartoons of the Week October 31, 2009 - November 6...
- The Hunt for Tuna: A Tough Catch
- The Omega-3 Battle: Which Margarine Is Healthier?
- Visit Animals at Zoo
- Kris Allen's 'Live Like We're Dying' Video Due Nex...
- Preview of 'Smallville' 9.07: Jor-El in Person
- 'Ghost Whisperer' and 'Medium' November 6 Previews
- Fresh 'New Moon' Clip Offers Scene From Bella's Bi...
- Miley Cyrus Describes Her 'Sex and the City 2' Sho...
- Miley Cyrus Approves of Taylor Swift and Taylor La...
- Lady GaGa Plans to Dress Down on Halloween
- Amazing Halloween Wallpapers
- Sports Today, October 31, 2009
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrives in Japan
- News Today, October 31, 2009
- Taiwan Snacks
- Dating The Same Girl ?
- Internet domain names set to appear in non-Latin s...
- Halloween Candy Without the Heartburn
- 'Supernatural' 5.08 Preview: Sounds Like Trickster...
- 'CSI' 10.06 Preview: Death and the Maiden
- Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy Confirmed for 'Mad M...
- 'Men in Black 3' Moves Forward With Writer Etan Cohen
- Paris Hilton Hasn't Decided on What She's Going to...
- Lady GaGa to Be Handed the Stylemaker Award
- Joanna Krupa's Playboy Cover Revealed
- Video: Miley Cyrus Wants Twitter to Be Banned From...
- News Today, October 30, 2009
- Sports Today, October 30, 2009
- Landscape Photographer of the Year 2009
- Surviving the Talkative Airplane Seatmate
- Google changes to aid music searches
- Top 10: Architecture Capitals
- What Does Her Halloween Costume Say About Her?
- Bad Foods to Help You Lose Weight
- The Ares Liftoff: Learning from Space Shuttle Mist...
- Exclusive Interview: Shwayze on New Album, Tour an...
- 'True Blood' Spoilers: June Premiere, Naked Eric a...
- 'Desperate Housewives' May Air Until 2013
- Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' Off to a Solid Start
- John Lennon's 'Nowhere Boy' Gets a Trailer
- Britney Spears Reportedly to Marry Boyfriend Jason...
- Mom Says Danielle Deleasa Is the Right Girl for So...
- Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift Spotted Together A...
- Miss Thailand 2009
- News Today, October 29, 2009
- Sports Today, October 29, 2009
- Halloween Pumpkin Season 2009
- The Halloween season, Animals enjoy and play pumpkins
- Body Chemistry 101: Sweat
- 5 Foods You Should Eat Every Day
- Best Cars Are Toyota, Honda, Ford, Says Consumer R...
- What Happens to Your Facebook After You Die?
- Michael Jackson's This Is It Review: He's Still a ...
- Orangutan female, and the little 15 weeks old cub
- On-Set Pictures of Demi Lovato's 'Remember Decembe...
- Sneak Peek: Halloween at 'The Office' and '30 Rock'
- The Lizard Possibly the One and Only Villain in 'S...
- An Inside Look Into 'Ninja Assassin' Unleashed
- 'Star Trek' Collects Hollywood Movie Award
- Details of Kourtney Kardashian's Baby Shower Uncov...
- Kevin Jonas and Danielle Deleasa Already Set Weddi...
- Lauren Conrad to Be a Jester Clown on Halloween
- Marketing This Is It: How Sony Created a Global Event
- "This is it", Michael Jackson
- Sports Today, October 28, 2009
- Beautiful Lakes Scenery Wallpapers
- Loy Krathong Day
- Top 10: Tokyo Auto Show Cars We'll Never Drive
- Why You Shouldn't Pick Up The Halloween Slut
- Ares 1-X Rocket Launch Preview
- Coffee May Slow Liver Damage From Hepatitis
- Rod Stewart: 'I've been one lucky guy'
- Jackson's 'This Is It' hits record stores
- In Germany, A Better H1N1 Vaccine For Politicians?
- Jennifer Lopez to Sing New Single 'Louboutins' at ...
- Winners List of 2009 Q Awards, Lady GaGa Wins Best...
- 'Heroes' 4.08 Preview: Saving Charlie
- 'Sex and the City 2' to Be Shorter Than the First One
- J.J. Abrams: No Plan to Direct 'Mission: Impossibl...
- Jennifer Esposito Engaged to Aussie Tennis Player ...
- Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner Spotted Enjoying H...
- News Today, October 27, 2009
- Iaquinta and Totti undergo knee surgery
- Coach Ramos dismissed by CSKA Moscow
- Sports Today, October 27, 2009
- A baby wallaby
- Japan's Prince Hisahito, 3, visit to Ueno Zoo
- Making the most of Twitter
- To tweet or not to tweet?
- H1N1 Vaccine Shortages Create Panic, Concern
- Women Struggle to Quit Depo-Provera
- Report: WHO to Announce Cell Phone, Brain Tumor Link
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October
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Sunday, October 4, 2009
D’oh! Homer Simpson to teach us healthy living
From The Sunday Times HOMER SIMPSON is known for munching doughnuts and swigging beer, but the Department of Health has decided that his family’s lifestyle is healthy enough to enlist them in an anti-obesity campaign.The government is to sponsor episodes of the cartoon serial about the dysfunctional family for three months in an attempt to improve the nation’s diet and increase exercise levels.Officials hope that families slumped in front of the Channel 4 programme will see a reflection of themselves in The Simpsons and realise they should probably be taking more care of their health.Critics may suggest that there are better examples of healthy lifestyles — such as the cartoon character Sportacus, who encourages the children of Lazytown to eat more fruit.Despite appearances, however, ministers believe much of the Simpsons’ lifestyle could set a good example to British families. For example, they eat together round the dining table and are a caring and sharing family, despite their many troubles.Officials analysed the Simpsons’ dietary and exercise patterns and believe Homer’s son, Bart, achieves the government-recommended 60 minutes’ of exercise a day. Bart’s sister, Lisa, is a vegetarian and is likely to consume the daily target of five portions of fruit and vegetables.At the beginning of episodes viewers will see cartoon characters pretending to be Homer, Bart, Marge and the rest of the family sitting on the sofa eating their favourite snacks of pizza, ice cream and chips.The characters, designed for the Change4Life campaign by Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromit, will then see all the junk food disappear to be replaced with more nutritious fare such as carrots, apples and pears.Gillian Merron, the public health minister, said: “The Simpsons are a much-loved, close-knit family facing some of the everyday challenges that modern-day families go through. They provide a popular and engaging way to get the message to real-life families about simple ways of improving their diet and activity for a healthier lifestyle.”The health department acknowledges that the Simpsons’ lifestyle is not entirely healthy and this is reflected in the slogan for the £640,000 advertising campaign: “Supporting The Simpsons: Sometimes.”A spokeswoman added: “The beer-drinking and doughnut-eating is clearly not what we would want.”Sponsors of The Simpsons included Domino’s Pizza until Ofcom, the communications regulator, ruled it was in breach of the broadcasting code because the commercials advertised junk food to children.Professor Gerard Hastings, director of the institute for social marketing at Stirling University, believes the public is more likely to listen to healthy-living tips if they come from imperfect characters.“It is good that health is associated with something irreverent and fun instead of po-faced and worthy,” said Hastings. “It is not what is said but who says it that matters and the fact that Homer and Bart Simpson are implicitly endorsing this message is really important.“We all have within us a bit of the beer and doughnuts persona and, within reason, that is fine. It is about balance and moderation.“What this will hopefully do is advertise that being healthy does not automatically put you into that miserable, Calvinist group.”Obesity is estimated to cost the NHS £4.2 billion a year and this is set to more than double by 2050. Forecasts suggest that a fifth of children will be overweight or obese by next year.