Nine-year-old
Hannah Robertson put McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson on the spot on Thursday at the
corporation’s annual shareholders’ meeting. According to USA Today, the girl
was attending the meeting with her mother, Kia, designer of a “Today I Ate a
Rainbow,” a kids’ interactive game aimed at helping children making better
dietary choices.
“There are
things in life that aren’t fair — like when your pet dies,” the newspaper
quoted Hannah as saying, “I don’t think it’s fair when big companies try to
trick kids into eating food that isn’t good for them by using toys and cartoon
characters. It isn’t fair that so many kids my age and younger who are getting
really sick with diseases like diabetes and obesity.”
She was
questioning the fairness of McDonald’s business practice of marketing highly
processed, heavily salted and fatty foods to children. She concluded her
remarks by pointedly asking the CEO, “Mr. Thompson don’t you want children to
be healthy so they can live a long and healthy life?”
McDonald’s
and other fast-food chains have made salutary gestures at improving their
menues, offering skim milk or bottled water with kids’ meals rather than sugary
or diet sodas, offering some healthier selections for side dishes like apple
wedges.
Still,
children’s health advocates and nutritionists worry that the changes don’t go
far enough. Several activists at the meeting voiced their concerns and, in the
case of Hannah Robertson, one of their children.
“We don’t
sell junk food,” Thompson said to the girl. “My kids also eat McDonald’s.”
He thanked
her for her comments, and said, “I think it’s great that you want to eat more
fruits and veggies.”
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