As another entertaining summer of sport comes to an end, I can’t help but feel a sense of ache surrounding another ‘legacy’ which is left in it’s wake. Before a single ball was kicked in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, I was plagued with the red and white of Coca Cola’s products, side by side with the tournament logo, in Tanzania. In the words of one regional Coca Cola employee: ‘It’s great, Tanzanian people can buy the coke and they can win the chance to be sent to the world cup’’. Inadvertently they can also be sent to a life of chronic disease management, co morbidities and early mortality. Therefore I pose the question, is it acceptable for physical activity to be associated with products related to extensive global morbidity and mortality ?
Let’s paint the picture. The world biggest single sporting event, the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, was watched by one billion people around the world. That means roughly 1 in 7 people were watching the world’s most popular sport come to a climatic end, while exposed to 120 minutes of advertisements from Coca Cola, Budweiser and McDonalds. Whether this manifests itself into an adult drinking 5 cold cokes while watching each game, or a child associating football with fast food, they both have an adverse effect on health.
Let’s paint the picture. The world biggest single sporting event, the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, was watched by one billion people around the world. That means roughly 1 in 7 people were watching the world’s most popular sport come to a climatic end, while exposed to 120 minutes of advertisements from Coca Cola, Budweiser and McDonalds. Whether this manifests itself into an adult drinking 5 cold cokes while watching each game, or a child associating football with fast food, they both have an adverse effect on health.
