June 1979 marked the debut of one of the fast-food industry’s most genius marketing concepts: the Happy Meal. By adding a small toy to its popular burger-and-fries combo, McDonald’s created an enticing children’s menu item that generates big business. A November 2010 study conducted by Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity found that 41 percent of parents claimed their children ask to go to McDonald’s on a weekly basis, and 22 percent of parents take their children to McDonald’s at least once a week.
Some advocacy groups and consumers say these statistics correlate with American children’s expanding waistlines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past 30 years, and it says a contributing factor to the upsurge is the frequency of meals eaten away from home. Health organizations have labeled childhood obesity as an epidemic, and eradicating the problem has become one of Michelle Obama’s primary goals.
