Food for Thought

I read with vague interest new research into a negative relation between obesity and intelligence.

At first glance the findings don't seem wildly significant (not to mention very general), though they are bound to provoke some upset. J-Man is already exhibiting slightly elevated wariness in the presence of the bountiful and tempting pie counter at the Caltex Convenience shop which beckons him alluringly after our paddling sessions. The slightly crazed twitch in his eye that afflicts him when fresh pies exit the oven, is now tempered with a dash of circumspection.

Anyway, if, at the margin, this persuades some parents to limit their kids' intake, then good may come of it.

But what provoked this post was the wonderfully ironic comment at the bottom:

But Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister, said that the research seemed unsustainable. "You just need to look around the world and you will see hundreds of thin nitwits and clever fat people," said Ms Widdecombe, who lost two stone when taking part in the television show Celebrity Fit Club.

"When I lost weight it was my waistline that improved, not my cerebellum."

Um. The cerebellum is involved in motor coordination, balance, etc. Could it be that just maybe she is confusing it with the cognition-governing cerebrum? Perhaps less time in the tuckshop and more time in high-school biology would have enlightened her as to the difference.

It is recommended that the former minister embarks on another knowledge-boosting two stone drop before rallying her cerebellum to pronounce further on the matter.