The First Lady is on a mission to foster healthier eating habits in children. As
Restaurant Business Online (RBO) reports, this past September, Michelle Obama held the first ever White House Convening on Food Marketing to Children, a conference including some prominent heads of global food brands, as well as restaurant industry representatives. The goal of the conference was to begin to convince food suppliers, advertisers, and TV networks to stop using subversive tactics, such as cartoon characters or mascots, for marketing junk food to children. This marks the latest endeavor of her "Let's Move" program, aimed at getting children to exercise more, and make healthier food and drink choices.
The "Let's Move" program aims to eradicate America's problem of childhood obesity within "a generation", so that tomorrows children are less plump than todays. The initiative focuses on educating parents about healthy options for kids, improving access to healthy options, and creating nutritious school lunch programs. Additionally, as the program's name implies, it is about getting children to do more physical activity. By partnering with sports leagues such as the WNBA and NFL, the First Lady hopes to promote healthy activities for children, as well as negate the bad eating habits that children have learned in recent decades. A staggering 1 in 3 children are obese, and at risk for weight and diet related health issues, such as diabetes.
Using cartoon characters and food mascots that appeal to children has been proven to increase sales. As
RBO point out, up to 70% of the advertisements on Nickelodeon are for junk food. The First Lady is hoping to persuade restauranteurs and food manufacturers to turn this on it's head by advertising healthier foods, and removing junk food advertisements from children's programming. These initiatives are voluntary, not regulatory, and the White House is hoping that companies will jump on board with the program's goals rather than being forced by policy changes. She applauded Disney for promising to remove all junk food ads from it's cartoon programming by 2015, and for already overhauling its popular parks' food programs to include healthier options. Obama makes the point that restaurants and manufacturers can still be profitable while producing healthy foods.
While parental influence is obviously the biggest factor in a child's diet, restaurants big and small alike play a huge role in how children perceive food. Many restaurants, especially larger chains, feature the staple chicken strips and grilled cheese on the kids menu, tactics that Mrs. Obama says are promoting poor eating habits in children. "Let's Move" hopes to encourage restaurants to feature more fruits and vegetables, and less sugar and junk, on their children's menus, and the First Lady is hoping that companies big and small will start making big changes today, rather than waiting for more heavy handed government intervention.
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Source:
Restaurant Business Online 
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