Well would you believe it? I’ve got tickets for the men’s 100m final. I joked with my wife that we could probably swap them nearer the time and use the money to re-roof the garage but she’s keen to experience the once-in-a-lifetime-event. I guess deep down I am too but there is something I would have happily swapped my tickets for…..
About 10-years ago I was invited to Nice to participate in a debate about the causes of childhood obesity. I had published an article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, in which I had attacked the idea that TV advertising was a key factor in fuelling the epidemic of weight problems in children. I had also written a polemical piece in the Guardian newspaper saying much the same thing and criticizing politicians for their absurd arguments and their cynical attempts to grab votes.
When I arrived at the venue in Nice I found that my opponent in the debate was the ex-prime minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland. Essentially the difference between us was that she favoured Government intervention to improve public health and I did not. I have always taken the view that when Governments start lecturing the population about how to behave, the response is almost always precisely the opposite of what one is seeking to achieve. But what I remember most was a conversation which I had with Mrs Brundtland later that evening in which she told me about the safe cycle ways which had been developed for Norwegian schoolchildren during her premiership.
Interestingly, Sebastian Coe – now Lord Coe – was at the same meeting and spoke about the public health benefits that would be accrued if Great Britain were to be awarded the Olympic Games in 2012. In essence, the claim is that when we see all these great athletes competing to fulfil their dreams, we – and the rest of the family - will all be inspired to don our running shoes or jump on our bikes in an effort to emulate our sporting heroes. In the long term this increased participation in physical activity will translate into a slimmer, fitter nation with much lower healthcare costs. I thought then, as I do now, that this is an entirely specious argument, though it is one which he and others continue to make. In fact the evidence from previous Olympic Games and similar international sporting events such as the Rugby World Cup, shows there is no impact on public health whatever. I’m quite sure Lord Coe knows all this, but it’s hardly something he could admit to given that he is in the fund-raising business.
Meanwhile, those of us in the real world all know that - contra Lord Coe et al - three weeks of summer Olympic Games will provide the perfect opportunity for TV dinners and cans of cheap beer so that the average weight of the population will probably increase. For every person aspiring to be Usain Bolt, there will be at least 100 others doing a passable impersonation of Dad from the Royle family.
I’ m looking forward to watching the Olympics but life is about making choices. If I had to choose between having tickets or not, I would gladly cancel the 2012 Olympic Games and use the £10 billion budget to do for children in the UK exactly what Gro Harlem Brundtland did for the children of Norway; build safe cycle paths and walkways so that today’s children can get to school safely and under their own steam. A slimmer, fitter younger generation – now that really would be a worthwhile legacy.
Dr David Ashton
29th June 2011
