Disney, First Lady Collaborate For Kids’ Health

WASHINGTON D.C. and BURBANK, Calif., February 9, 2010 As part of its ongoing effort to promote healthy lifestyles and nutrition for kids and families, Disney today announced that it will develop a program in collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama supporting Lets Move, her newly announced campaign to create a healthier generation.

Disney will create a series of PSAs featuring the First Lady and leading Disney Channel stars to inspire healthier eating habits, physical activity and more. The messages will be featured across Disneys kid and family targeted media platforms, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, Radio Disney, and Disney.com and will begin airing later this year.

Having been at the forefront of making healthier lifestyle choices appealing to kids and families, Disney is delighted to work with the First Lady to promote exercise, nutrition and healthy living, said Robert A. Iger, president and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.

Disneys participation in Lets Move complements its long-standing commitment to kids health and nutrition. In 2006, Disney pioneered groundbreaking nutritional guidelines aimed at giving parents and children healthier eating options. Disney food policies limit the use of the company name and its characters to only those kid-focused products that meet specific guidelines, including limits on calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar. Disney made nutritionally-beneficial changes in the meals served to children at all Disney-operated restaurants in the Disney Parks and Resorts.

Today, more than 85% of Disneys licensed food portfolio consists of healthier options, including produce and low-fat dairy with more than one billion servings of Disney Garden fruits and vegetables sold during the last 4 years. Disney Channels Worldwide is committed to programming that reflects and recognizes that everyone shares a responsibility to encourage kids and families to adopt healthy lifestyles. Guidelines are employed to model behavior that demonstrates good nutrition and physical activity.

At least one episode of each series currently in production –including “Hannah Montana,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” “Sonny With A Chance,” “Zeke and Luther,” “Phineas and Ferb” and “The Suite Life on Deck” — centers on a healthy lifestyle theme. In addition, over 100 interstitials have been dedicated to encouraging healthier lifestyles. They include ‘Pass the Plate,’ a global effort to both inform and empower viewers, showing them how kids just like them around the world enjoy and benefit from healthy foods, and “Getcha Head in the Game,” an interstitial series that inspires kids to follow their dreams through physical activity.

Source: The Walt Disney Company