DIANE
SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): And from one first lady to another, Michelle Obama
appeared today with the CEO of our parent company, Disney, because Disney decided
to do something historic to help fight childhood obesity and called in the big
guns
to do it, including a very, very famous mouse.
ABC's Reena Ninan explains.
REENA
NINAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): Every parent knows
the drill. Their child sees ads like these.
NARRATOR
(COMMERCIAL): We have the technology.
REENA
NINAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): Moms like Julie Ingoldia have
a hard time saying
no.
CHILD
(SON) May we please have this?
JULIE
INGOLDIA (PARENT): They see lots of the ads for things like, you know, the
sweetened cereals and things like that and definitely want to try them all.
REENA
NINAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): But today, the Walt Disney Company announced it will no
longer run junk food ads on its
kids' TV networks and radio programs.
First Lady Michelle Obama calls the move a game changer.
FIRST LADY
MICHELLE OBAMA (UNITED STATES): Our kids see an estimated $1.6 billion a year
worth of food and beverage marketing.
And many of those ads are for foods for that are high in calories and
sugar but low in nutrition.
REENA
NINAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): The new guidelines mean food
products advertised
within Disney children's programming must meet strict nutritional
standards on calories, portion size,
sodium, sugar and saturated fat. Disney, the parent company of ABC, phased out added trans
fats at its parks and resorts six years ago and introduced healthier
options. They say they saw real
results. The new initiative could have a
much wider impact.
REENA
NINAN (ABC NEWS)(OC): What would you say would determine a success?
BOB IGER
(CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF WALT DISNEY COMPANY): This is the way the world needs to
go, the way the world will go. And I
think more and more companies, as we've already seen, will recognize that
childhood obesity is a huge and growing problem and that companies will step up and join the effort.
REENA NINAN
(ABC NEWS)(VO): And Julie Ingoldia says that would make her life a lot
easier. In Washington, DC, Reena Ninan,
ABC News.