Press Release

San Francisco, California

Thank you. I am Wendi Gosliner.

You know, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Well, we’re here today because someone is getting hurt: our children. Today, fewer than 1% of children in this country consume a diet that is consistent with our national dietary advice, the Dietary Guidelines. As a nation, we are robbing our children of the opportunity to enjoy the optimal health and wellbeing that is accompanied by eating healthfully. A diet high in fat, sugar and salt leads to many health problems, one of the most immediate and visible being obesity. Obesity in the very young was practically unheard of only one generation ago. In the last 30 years, the percentage of obese children in America has tripled among 2 to 5 year olds, and quadrupled among children ages 6 to 11. Today one in three kids in the U.S. is overweight or obese, with rates in some populations of children reaching as high as 50%.

There is little evidence that changes in physical activity over time account for the dramatic increase in childhood obesity rates. Rather, there is a growing body of research linking the increase in consumption of McDonald’s-style fast foods to obesity. Studies have shown that current consumption of these foods leads to poorer nutritional health. While the child obesity statistics are shocking, this diet has a deleterious stealth effect on all of our children… even those children who maintain a healthy weight.

Over the years, Ronald McDonald and other elements of McDonald’s extensive marketing practices have strategically encouraged less healthy meal choices for children. They placed restaurants near schools and taught us that a hamburger, fries and a soda is an appropriate meal for a child. Now, they’re promoting processed fresh apples dipped in caramel sauce and sweetened milk as “healthy” choices. Well, these meals and these choices are hurting our children’s health.

We know that these fast foods, with their added salt, fat, and sugar, would be more accurately called snack foods, not meals. In fact, not one of the 24 Happy Meal combinations offered contains the foods and nutrients children need to meet the Dietary Guidelines.

There is no argument: our children are facing a health crisis fueled by industry-driven dietary norms and practices. We can no longer afford to allow any group to manipulate our children to eat poorly.

The choice now lies with companies like McDonalds. While they have chosen to build their empire selling poor health to our children, now, they must choose to be part of the solution. Our children deserve to enjoy fun and games during the course of a long, healthy, and productive life; it is our responsibility to support parents in their efforts to provide their children with the health promoting food environment that they deserve.