Choice and the democratic process uh?! Free to make their own choices!?

The chief executive of McDonalds Mr.Jim Skinner recently turned down a request by concerned individuals to properly assess the full impact of its products on the rates of childhood obesity. The request which was led by Dr. Donald Zeigler who runs the Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles of the American Medical Association came in a letter signed by 550 leading healthcare professionals asking McDonalds to stop making the next generation sick.

In refusing the request he said that Ronald McDonald would be promoting Happy Meals to children in the future and said that the issue was about belief in the democratic process. He went on to say that customers should be free to make their own choice and that Ronald McDonald was an ambassador for good.

Choice and the democratic process uh?!!  Free to make their own choices!? What a load of rubbish! This issue is not about whether grown adults have the right to eat a burger when they feel like but whether children as small as three years old should be faced with a relentless barrage of careful and psychological messages designed to get them to eat food which is extremely high in fat, salt and calories.

It is one thing to advertise to a man or woman that you sell great burgers because they have the intuition and the ability to understand that if they eat too much of them they will get fat. Try telling that to a four year old kid, especially when you are not only refusing them the burger but also the games and other incentives that McDonalds uses to get young children hooked on junk food.

The facts are all there for everybody to see and advertising fast food to children in any way should be banned immediately. Children need to be taught that fruit and vegetables and moderation in diet will sustain them in good health until they reach an old age. They do not need to be fed the message that supersizing their meal is a good thing.

It is true that all parents can stop their children from going to McDonalds and they can turn off the TV to stop them seeing the advertisements and many of them do, but legislators need to have a heart for single mothers who have to work and for parents who work long hours and who only their see their kids for short periods.

If these young children constantly see these carefully designed advertisements it makes it very difficult for parents to promote healthy eating in the home. America and Europe when will you wake up!  Legislate now before you destroy another whole generation and ruin the lives of thousands of children.