UK Researchers Think Memes Are Making Kids Unhealthy

Researchers submitted a letter to Parliament breaking down the ways memes encourage unhealthy lifestyles.

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memes kids

Researchers in the UK think that memes might be bad for your health

The researchers from Loughborough University sent a letter to a Parliamentary committee examining the effects of social media on young people's health. According to their findings, memes spread inaccurate and harmful information about health.  

"A substantial number of individuals on Twitter share health-related internet memes, with both positive and negative messages," they said. "There is evidence of uncritical consumption of on-line health-related information."

The researchers added that memes can “normalize undesirable behaviors such as trolling, body shaming and bullying." They said that the apathetic way that teens consume memes can also be harmful, claiming that the "lack of emotion may be indicative of a larger apathy with regards to such practice.”

They added that memes, particularly those centered around eating, aren't taking into account the necessary nutrition for growing kids.

"Internet memes are generally viewed as entertaining but they also represent a body of cultural practice that does not account for the specific needs and rights of teenagers," they explained.

Their study also contends that the messages delivered in memes can be harmful down the line, as unhealthy living creates a strain on the UK healthcare system. 

"Unhealthy lifestyles cost the NHS billions every year," they said. 

While the report is practically begging to be made fun of by those very same meme-makers, they do have a bit of a point. Given the amount of sugar in an average loaf, there's absolutely no way that getting that much bread can be healthy for you. 

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