McDonald’s today is launching a program to encourage children to be more active. It’s called One Minute to Move It. That’s right, it’s telling kids to get up off the couch, turn off the television, put down the Wii controls and do something — dance, jump, run — for one minute. Wow, talk about setting some lofty goals.
The program, it will not come as a surprise, is in conjunction with a tie-in promotion, this time the release of the animated movie Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. And with a movie tie-in comes a themed Happy Meal. So essentially they’re encouraging kids to spend one minute doing a healthful activity, then offering to feed them with a Happy Meal, maybe one with chicken McNuggets, fries and a jug of milk (520 calories and 690 mg. of sodium).
Now, of course, they hope that the kids will actually “Move It” for more than a minute (dare we hope for 90 seconds?), and they’re trying for some health credibility by encouraging activity. I’d be a lot more inclined to give them credit if the program involved moving children — and their parents who cannot, for some reason, tell them no — toward a more healthful diet.
Hey, how’s this for a minute’s activity: walk briskly past McDonald’s to someplace with food that’s better for you.
