Big Business Brings Out Big Guns to Work Against Childhood Obesity Efforts
By: Becky Bracken
Published: July 10, 2011

Selling junk food to kids is big business. And recent rules against marketing nutritionally questionable foods to kids is something former White House communications director Anita Dunn will take on as a representative of the Sensible Food Policy Coalition.
Dunn will head a campaign against tougher childhood obesity policies backed by junk food powerhouses including General Mills, Kellogg, Pepsi and Time Warner. Viacom is one of the members. It owns the Nickelodeon television network, whose animated characters such as Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants are featured prominently on food products marketed to children.
First Lady Michelle Obama has made fighting childhood obesity her signature issue. 
“Without resorting to personal attacks, everybody should be able to work together towards a common goal here,” she said. “At the end of the day, combating childhood obesity is not a question of what gets advertised but a matter of more exercise, healthier eating habits and working together.”