a cautionary christmas tale

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I was amused to read about the hoopla involving this online "study" in the BMJ entitled "Santa Claus: A Public Health Pariah." The tongue-in-cheek article, written by Australian epidiomiologist Nathan J. Grills, contends that the corpulent Mr. Claus and his "rotund sedentary image" set a bad example for kids and adults alike.

The joke has apparently been lost on media organizations, bloggers, and radio personalities, who have suggested that the article is just another example of of politically correct, killjoy academic research. Grills has subsequently received harassing emails, and he was called a "Scrooge" by a blogger for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Yikes!

Grills has since affirmed that he is, in fact, a "Santa believer and lover" and that he has even "donned the red and white garb a number of times to bring cheer at school concerts in rural Victoria." "To clarify," he said, "I am not a Santa researcher - the article was written in my spare time for a bit of comic relief."

More about the media hoopla surrounding Grills's article is here and here.

Posted by Maya Sen at December 25, 2009 10:54 AM