Are World Cup viewers receiving a message that could make them sick?

The World Cup has a profound social impact, including on global health, according to Kent Buse and Sarah Hawkes

A BILLION people watched the opening match of the Fifa World Cup in São Paulo, Brazil, and hundreds of millions more will tune in at some point during the month-long tournament.

For Fifa’s six major partners and the event’s eight official sponsors, this audience is nothing short of a gold mine. Indeed, they pay tens of millions in the hope that some of the magic of the “beautiful game” will rub off on their brands — and it very well may. For viewers, however, that is probably not a good thing.