Childhood Obesity And The Krispy Kreme Challenge: Together At Last On ESPN

By Ryan

Is this just coincidence, or are there other sinister forces at work in Bristol?

My weekly e-mail from ESPN about its Enterprise Journalism features included two tasty nuggets. Sunday’s Outside the Lines (March 29 at 9am ET) is going to include Mark Fainaru-Wada’s story on childhood obesity:

Outside the Lines will examine the link between childhood obesity and the de-emphasis on physical education in our schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that by 2010, 20% of American children will be considered obese. According to experts, this generation might be the first in recorded history not to outlive its parents. Despite these predictions, physical education in elementary schools remains low on the list of priorities.

All well and good. Until you scroll down to discover a story on SportsCenter (March 29 at 10am ET) immediately following that OTL about Greg Garber’s story on the annual Krispy Kreme Challenge held at North Carolina State:

The 5,519 competitors in the annual Krispy Kreme Challenge — a charity event on the North Carolina State campus — must run four miles, a easy task for most joggers, but must also down a dozen donuts. That’s 66,228 glazed carbo-loaded concoctions consumed by the participants, one of whom was ESPN.com senior writer Greg Garber who discovered the challenge isn’t so much the running or the eating, but the combination of the two.

The irony of pairing these two stories is delicious. Mmmm … irony.

1 Comment

  1. North Carolina State better get next year’s donuts up front:

    15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009
    February 06, 2009 09:29 AM ET | Rick Newman U.S. News & World Report
    Krispy Kreme. (KKD; about 4,000 employees; stock down 50%). The donuts might be good, but Krispy Kreme overestimated Americans’ appetite – and that’s saying something.

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About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.