Dr. Nathan Grills, of Australia’s leading Monash University argues in his research on Santa “Santa Claus: A public health pariah?” that the jolly Christmas figure is promoting unhealthy habits to children. He believes that the all the smoking, drinking (and drink-driving), unhealthy eating, obesity and the coughing and sneezing is sending out a bad message to children. Santa is a powerful marketing tool that is widely accepted around the world, and originates on the idea of St. Nicholas – that is celebrated on December the 5th-6th in Europe. St. Nicholas was a modest man known as the Nicholas the Wonderworker, and he left gifts in poor peoples shoes. This is far away from the Santa we see today, smoking and drinking, visibly obese and that is more or less immobile and not quite as modest.