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 .