Cross-posted at moderncomments.wordpress.com.

Okay, maybe it’s because I have a bad back and am in significant pain, but this story really makes me angry.  From FoxNews.com:

With his portly belly and a fondness for a brandy-fuelled spin on the sleigh, Santa Claus is hardly the picture of health or safety.

Now his wild ways are catching up with him, with calls for a radical overhaul of his bad boy image. A study by Monash University public health expert Dr. Nathan Grills found Santa could be promoting obesity and speeding — and damaging millions of lives.

The childhood legend should be used to promote a healthy lifestyle, the study, published in the British Medical Journal, found.

It suggested Santa slim down by ditching the cookies, mince pies and milk, and snack instead on his reindeers’ carrots and celery sticks. His reckless behavior could also encourage extreme sports such as roof surfing and chimney jumping — not to mention speeding.

At the very least he should buckle up or don a helmet, the study says.

“I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Santa causes obesity — it’s more about raising wider issues around advertising and public health,” he said.

A study of American school kids shows Santa Claus is the only fictional character more highly recognized than Ronald McDonald.

Cram it.  With walnuts, if you’re feeling particularly festive.

But stop, stop, stop, stop, stop this insanity.  Stop this politically correct, Nanny State hysteria that seeks to take even the simplest joys in life and turn them into the next legislative, moralistic crusade against whatever topic du jour is ruffling your feathers.

You know what causes childhood obesity?  Lazy parents.  Stupid parents.  Irresponsible parents.  Or how about a media that can’t go a day without a hyped story about child abduction or sexual offenders moving near the local playground?  Constantly hammering parents into believing that every person in the neighborhood is a potential threat tends to discourage them from letting their kids go outside and play, thus increasing the likelihood the kids will plop down in front of the Wii and weigh 300 lbs by high school.  They may be obese, but at least they’re “safe”, right?

Why is it people refuse to allow children to enjoy the magic and simplicity that should be (and was, until recently) childhood?  No – now we have to encourage kids to learn all manner of sexual proclivity starting in kindergarten, and then wonder why 12-year-olds need condoms.  We have to regiment and bubble wrap every aspect of their lives so, when they get to college, Mommy and Daddy have to call professors to defend grades or call employers to negotiate salaries because little Susie doesn’t know how to fend for herself in a world that doesn’t care if her feelings are hurt or her self-esteem is damaged.

I know of no parent who made Santa into a role model.  He was a man who came once a year and brought us presents. We were not encouraged to emulate him in any way, shape, or form.  The fact that he did ate cookies meant nothing to us, and certainly wasn’t the basis of our dietary regiment.

But it seems that anything that brings people a shred of joy – no matter how minuscule – must be criticized, over-analyzed, and taken away.

Why is that?