And then there are the stories that just lead you to the conclusion that there are people with too much time on their hands.

Researchers at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Wisconsin have concluded that obesity rates increase in cities where the newspapers publish high-calorie dessert recipes.

Assuming that some percentage of the readers of any particular newspaper like to bake and that of those, a percentage may try the recipe for that luscious fat and calorie-ridden dessert, we must then calculate how many people that baker is likely to serve this treat to. Six? Seven? Eight at most, I should think. Assume then that this dessert is a big hit and friends and family insist that the baker must prepare this treat again, thus it begins to show up at company parties and family functions and holidays. That would be how often, three or four times a year? Does something you eat four times a year make you obese?

The report notes that the news media play an important role in providing nutrition information, but with respect to recipes, “this information is seldom studied.”

Maybe there’s a good reason for that.