What if Christmas happened every day: 5 surprising health predictions
Most of us look forward to indulging over Christmas, on everything from mince pies to a few glasses of mulled wine. Diet plans and fitness regimes go out the window in favour of guilt-free festivity. After all, it’s a one-off time to celebrate. But what if Christmas happened every day?
Researchers at Prezzy Box have calculated the effect that a daily Christmas celebration would have on the nation’s health and wellbeing – and it’s not pretty. After reading these eye-opening facts, you’ll be glad that Christmas is restrained to just one day a year…
1 Over a year, each of us would consume 730,000 extra calories, leading to a weight gain of 14st 9lb – the same weight as 3½ Siberian Huskies.
2 Due to severe obesity, our life expectancy would drop by 10 years to 69 years. (This would save the government over £55,000 per person in pension payments…)
3 There would be a 40% increase in alcohol-related illness, costing the NHS £4.2 billion a year. Just £1 billion more than it would cost you to buy the entire Manchester City squad.
4 Children would lose 91¼ day’s worth of sleep a year due to being over-excited, which would lead to a lack of concentration, not to mention increased risk of diabetes and obesity.
5 It’s not looking great for Santa’s waistline either: he would consume a grand total of 33.5 billion mince pies. That’s a total of 9683 billion calories – enough to power 4689 billion light bulbs, and the equivalent of lighting the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree 937 million times.
It’s hard not be shocked by these predictions – and that’s not even factoring in all the Quality Street scoffed. However, it’s natural to enjoy a festive indulgence or three, and remember, many fitness experts reckon that enjoying the odd treat is even good for you.
What’s your favourite thing about Christmas? Tweet us @healthymag
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