I WAS surprised to see your headline about the new Hungry Jacks fast food restaurant coming to town.
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In your article you highlighted the importance of the number of jobs that Hungry Jacks will provide to the area.
As a doctor I think your facts were wrong.
There are many more jobs that Hungry Jacks will contribute to the area. I can see in my daily life as a local doctor the impact that junk food and obesity has on our communities.
Obesity creates a plethora of chronic illnesses which create many jobs for local GPs and specialists in the area. NSW is now ordering and purchasing ambulances that are designed specifically for the morbidly obese patients.
This will generate jobs in the auto industry. We now have special flotation devices so that we can transport patients in the hospital, these are like small hovercrafts, these are creating jobs around the world. In addition, the stretchers that the ambulance officers have to use are of extra heavy weight.
There are many more drugs on the market as a result of the increase in chronic illness so drug companies around the world are benefiting from the obesity epidemic.
We just built a new hospital where we have an additional four operating rooms which are running around the clock looking after these people with chronic illness.
This has generated lots of jobs along Highfield Circuit, around the corner from Port Macquarie Base Hospital building new housing for medical students, doctors and nurses.
In summary, the 50 new jobs that Hungry Jacks will provide in their restaurant pales in comparison to the knock-on effect in the obesity that the junk food industry is helping to propagate.
We can thanks Hungry Jacks, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Nestle and a plethora of industrial food complexes that have basically changed our health care landscape.
Dr Stuart Kennedy M.D.