Homer Simpson, watch out. The health-nanny tendency, having achieved only partial success in changing the eating habits of three-dimensional people, is now targeting two-dimensional characters. A team of nutritionists from an American university have made a study of the dietary intake of Homer, Barney and police chief Wiggum and detected that they seem to shift an awful lot of doughnuts and beer. The researchers, led by Professor Carol Byrd-Bredbenner of Rutgers University, analysed 63 episodes of the show for health-related messages. Their conclusion? “Fats, sweets and alcohol, particularly beer, doughnuts and salty/fatty snacks accounted for 52 per cent of all foods eaten in this programme,” they say. “Homer also was portrayed eating food more often (he alone accounted for 21% of all actions showing food being eaten) and ate greater quantities than other characters.”
