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posted by martyb on Saturday October 20 2018, @08:50PM   Printer-friendly
from the GIGO dept.

Memes carry dangerous health-related messages and make light of unhealthy eating habits, researchers from Loughborough University wrote in a letter sent to a British parliamentary committee.

"A substantial number of individuals on Twitter share health-related Internet memes, with both positive and negative messages," they wrote, noting that many "contain inappropriate material."

A picture of an overweight child with the caption "Free food? Count me in!" was sent along with the letter as an example of a meme the researchers found dangerous.

The academics were also concerned by a meme that created a human-like body from pictures of pizzas and hamburgers, with frankfurters used for limbs and a smiley-faced potato for a face.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/18/health/internet-memes-obesity-intl/index.html

Monkey see, monkey... eat?


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  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @01:12AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @01:12AM (#751534)

    "Academics" is now sysosumous with brain-dead or downright-evil. Just look at any fucking article based on "Study" in the past 5 yeas without cringing.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @10:27AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @10:27AM (#751607)

    Academics?
    Aye, in name only...read this and giggle...

    http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/science-and-technology-committee/impact-of-social-media-and-screenuse-on-young-peoples-health/written/87284.pdf [parliament.uk]

    Top Billing goes to one 'Dr Ash Casey, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS), Loughborough University' who, in the 'about us' section is thus described

    'Dr Ash Casey has a strong publication record in education and social media/technology. His exploration of the role of Internet memes in shaping teenagers’ health-related social media interactions led to this work. He has 15 years secondary school teaching and 8 years teacher-education experience.'

    This is one Dr. Ashley Casey, Senior Lecturer in Pedagogy

    and then there's this bit in the 'Scoping Work' section

    '...We have undertaken some preliminary research in this area and are seeking funding for a larger project.'

    The penny drops, ah, there's naught so dangerously risible as an jumped up ex-PE teacher on the make...

    I don't know what it's like in the rest of the world, but in Britain, after decades of being the butt of jokes by fellow teachers with proper qualifications (most PE teachers at the schools I went to were ex-armed forces, that was their only qualification to 'teach' PE¹) they became 'Sports Scientists' or 'Health Scientists' or some other similar sounding bullshit. I think this all started back in the 80's, not too sure though, I do seem to recall as I was escaping the school system here that some of the newer PE teachers were looking and acting almost human.

    ¹ Don't get me wrong here, the only one of them that I remember with any degree of respect was ex-army, he was a complete and utter wee bastard who still thought he was churning out squaddies for Her Majesty's Scottish Cannonfodder Regiments (in a way he was, the Army loves to target schools in deprived areas, might as well get them fit). He reminded me a lot of my grandfather (who ended up in Burma during WW2 doing things he never talked about and which turned him into the complete and utter wee bastard he wasn't before the war..I just assumed that as part of growing up everyone had a grandfather who showed you how to kill people using just your hands)