Dr Vincent Candrawinata calls on overweight shopping centres Santas to be banned

A health expert is calling for all fat Santas to be banned from shopping centres, saying an overweight Father Christmas is sending ‘the wrong message’ and promotes binge eating.

Dr Vincent Candrawinata, a health and wellness expert and researcher at the University of Newcastle, NSW, said a chubby Santa promoted unhealthy eating over Christmas.

He said while he’s yet to see a skinny Santa posing for photos with kids, he’d like a fit Saint Nick to be the new norm.

‘We shouldn’t expect Santa to be fat because that sends the wrong message,’ he told the Herald Sun.

‘I want to fight the stigma that you need to eat a lot and overindulge to celebrate festivities and be joyful. Being overweight should not be associated with happiness.’

A health expert has called on shopping centre Santas to trim down, saying an overweight Father Christmas is sending ‘the wrong message’

But not everyone wants Santa to go on a diet. 

One Santa entertainer, Peter Hogg, who has dressed up as Father Christmas for more than 12 years, rubbished the idea of a ‘skinny Santa’.

‘A skinny Santa takes away from the mystery and mystique of Santa Claus throughout the ages,’ he said.

Mr Hogg said he’d never heard of any of his fellow Santa impersonators becoming ill due to health problems, adding they needed strength to hold children up all day.

He said Santa was ‘a bit round’, but wasn’t obese and it should stay that way.

Dr Vincent Candrawinata, a health and wellness expert and researcher at the University of Newcastle, said a chubby Santa promoted unhealthy eating over the Christmas period