How top sports leagues promote unhealthy eating behaviour
New York: Top sports leagues may be contributing to the escalating obesity epidemic among children and adolescents as the majority of food and beverages marketed through sponsorship of these events are unhealthy, says a US-based study.
"Unhealthy food and beverage promotion through organised sports is pervasive," said the study's lead investigator Marie Bragg, Assistant Professor at New York University School of Medicine.
"These organisations must put forth a better effort to protect their youngest and most impressionable fans," she added.
For the study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers analysed Nielsen statistics of televised sports programmes among children 2-17 years of age.
The study found that, among the 10 most watched sports organisations, most of the food products were rated "unhealthy" under the guidelines of the Nutrient Profile Model, a profiling system that identifies nutritious value in Britain and Australia.
The US does not have a comparable measurement system.
The researchers examined sports sponsorship agreements covering 2006-2016 between food and beverage manufacturers and the 10 sports organisations with the most youth viewers.
These organisations were -- the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-even Little League Baseball and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
"The US is in the throes of a child and adolescent obesity epidemic, and these findings suggest that sports organisations and many of their sponsors are contributing, directly and indirectly, to it," Bragg said.
"Sports organisations need to develop more health-conscious marketing strategies that are aligned with recommendations from national medical associations," she added.
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ED recovers huge cash from domestic help allegedly linked to Jharkhand minister's secretary
Ranchi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Monday claimed to have recovered a huge amount of "unaccounted" cash during searches at the premises of a domestic help allegedly linked to the secretary of a Jharkhand minister, official sources said.
Videos and photos shared by the sources showed officials of the central probe agency taking out wads of currency notes from large bags in a room. Some central force security personnel were also seen.
The premises are alleged to be of the domestic help of Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam's personal secretary Sanjiv Lal.
ED sources said the cash was being counted to ascertain the exact amount which could range between Rs 20-30 crore. The cash is largely in the denomination of Rs 500 and some jewellery has also been recovered, the sources said.
Alam (70), is a Congress leader and represents the Pakur seat in the Jharkhand assembly.
The searches are linked to a money laundering case against the former chief engineer of the rural development department, Veerendra Kumar Ram, who was arrested by the ED last year.
"Veerendra Kumar Ram, posted as chief engineer in the Rural Works Department in Ranchi, had generated proceeds of crime in the name of commission from contractors in lieu of allotment of tenders to them," the agency had alleged in a statement issued last year in April after it attached assets worth Rs 39 crore of the officer.
"The proceeds of crime thus generated were used by Veerendra Kumar Ram and his family members to live a very lavish lifestyle," it said.
The money laundering case against Ram stems from a complaint of the Jharkhand anti-corruption bureau (ACB).
