Why is McDonald's listed a resource for Childhood Obesity Awareness Month?

I am not a fan of any sort of  "awareness" month as I find the concept trivializes important health issues. Are we only supposed to care about heart disease, diabetes, etc, during that one month of the year? And I never see anything of substance come from the month-long activities, just the usual ineffective educational campaigns, instead of meaningful public policy reforms. Plus many issues tend to crowd themselves into certain months of the year, so it all just becomes noise.  September is one such month. Among other causes, September has been proclaimed "Childhood Obesity Awareness Month" by Congress and President Obama.

When I first heard about about it, I though, oh god, please no ribbons or walks. Thankfully, no signs of either, yet. But there are still plenty of early indicators that the idea is doomed to failure. For one, the Presidential Proclamation itself is pretty milk-toast when it comes to policy change. For example, referring to the report of the President's Task Force on Childhood Obesity:

The report outlines broad strategies to address childhood obesity,  including providing healthier food in schools, ensuring access to  healthy affordable food, increasing opportunities for physical activity,  empowering parents and caregivers with better information about making  healthy choices, and giving children a healthy start in life. I invite  all Americans to visit LetsMove.gov to learn more about these  recommendations and find additional information and resources on how to  help children eat healthy and stay active.

All of those ideas have been on the table for years, but little progress has been made. And he's inviting Americans to find resources to help kids eat better? Not exactly cutting-edge. Finally, nothing even mentioning the role the food industry plays in undermining parents, no matter how much the First Lady tries to "empower" them with her Let's Move campaign.

Then I looked a little further to find the official website for Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, which seems innocuous enough at first. The American College of Sports Medicine is listed as the main contact, which tells me the emphasis is more on physical activity than on healthy food, or god forbid, food marketing. Other partners listed include the NAACP, Richard Simmons' Ask America, American Society for Nutrition, and various other private health companies and associations, an odd lot to say the least.

But what caught my eye was the list of "external resources," which includes some usual suspects such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Let's Move, along with several other government agencies. Then inexplicably, at the very bottom, is a link to "McDonald's Stage M," which appears to be a video game site intended for young children to "learn" about nutrition. As described on the fast food giant's main website:

McDonald's is proud to introduce Stage M - an exciting and entertaining  place for kids, where they can watch music videos all about the fun and  great taste of fruits and vegetables. The whole family will want to sing  along! Kids can even put themselves in a music video!

So many exclamation points, it must be fun!

What a coup for the company most closely associated with contributing to childhood obesity to get listed as a resource, right after the US Department of Agriculture, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. This same list can also be found on the website for Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio, who sponsored the resolution that established the event. Kudos to her for taking leadership on this issue, but perhaps her staff is unaware that she is giving McDonald's some great PR? (I tried emailing the  American College of Sports Medicine to find out how much money McDonald's paid for the privilege, but have not yet heard back.)

Other industry players are also jumping on the "awareness" bandwagon. For example, the American Beverage Association, the powerful trade association for Coke and Pepsi et al, blogged about it last week under the silly headline, Childhood Obesity Awareness: What a Difference a Month Can Make! Without a hint of irony, ABA tell us to:

Get informed. Get connected. Get involved. That’s the message on the “Healthier Kids, Brighter Futures”  website. There, families and individuals can learn how taking even  small steps can make a big difference in their lives. National, state  and local leaders, as well as businesses and organizations, are  encouraged to observe the month.

National, state, and local leaders are encouraged to observe the month, like it's a religious event? Because they cannot possibly be encouraged to actually do anything about the problem, since then Big Soda will just pour even more lobbying dollars into obstructing public policy for real change.

So brace yourselves for the rest of September, as your local school or neighborhood group just might take up the mantle to "observe" Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. And then, on October 1, everyone can go back to whatever they were doing before, having observed and been made aware. Problem solved.