Who's that jolly old man with a big round belly that shakes when he laughs like a bowlful of jelly? A poor role model for public health, says an Australian medical researcher.
Santa Claus has become the most recognizable symbol of Christmas around the world, having displaced the person whose birth is celebrated on the day. So it is perhaps only appropriate that a doctor would examine just how appropriate a symbol he is for our modern times.
In a paper published in the Christmas issue of BMJ, epidemiologist Nathan J. Grills of Monash University in Melbourne wonders aloud whether Saint Nick might not be "a public health pariah." Noting that Santa has the potential to significantly influence individual behavior -- among children in the United States, he is the only fictional character more widely recognized than spokesclown Ronald McDonald -- Grills set out to determine just what kind of message the Christmas icon delivers to young and old along with the presents.
What he found wasn't pretty. Santa, it appears, is hopelessly out of shape and behind the times: "a late adopter of evidence-based behaviour change [who] continues to sport a rotund sedentary image" is how Grills described him in the paper. Then he went on: "But this is not the only example where Santa’s behaviour and public image are at odds with contemporary accepted public health messages."
For instance, consider Santa Claus' diet and drinking habits. Those cookies and mince pies are loaded with fattening sugars and carbs. And those Brits and Australians who leave him a little brandy as a thank-you gift make him an accident waiting to happen: reindeer can do serious damage to cars on the road, and Santa really shouldn't be endorsing drinking and sleighing any more than drinking and driving. (Maybe they should adopt the American custom of leaving him milk instead. Skim, of course.)
And speaking of endorsements, what about those products he pitches from time to time? "Like Coca-Cola, Santa has become a major export item to the developing world," says Grills. And those two are paired often enough to give the good doctor the willies.
And if all that weren't bad enough, Saint Nick might also be a vector for infectious diseases. Grills notes in the BMJ paper that if Santa coughs or sneezes around 10 times a day, the children who sit in his lap might wind up with swine flu as a stocking-stuffer to go with their Christmas list.
While Dr. Grinch -- er, Grills -- stops short of calling for Santa to be regulated as a public health threat -- he allows that "more research is needed" before taking that step -- he does suggest a rebranding and makeover campaign for the guy. He should ditch the reindeer and walk lots more, for starters, and replace those mince pies with carrot and celery sticks. With any luck, he might achieve the alluring svelteness of the French Pere Noel.
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