First Lady Praises Disney Food Ad Restrictions

Urges others to find creative ways to promote healthier food choices

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/28/2013 10:53:07 AM

First Lady Michelle Obama showed Disney some love on Thursday for its move to restrict food advertising.

In an op ed in the Wall Street Journal on the fruits, as it were, of her campaign for healthier foods for kids, Obama praised Disney for "eliminating ads for junk foods from its children's programming," as well as improving the menus at its theme parks.

She urged more businesses to step up to the plate, get creative and to "generate revenue by giving American families better information and healthier choices."

Disney drew praise from Federal Trade Commission chairman Jon Leibowitz back in June 2012 after it announced new nutrition guidelines for food marketing to kids, an announcement Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger made at the Newseum in Washington accompanied by Michelle Obama.