Industry Funding of National Health Groups

While it’s great for corporate public relations and marketing to have prominent health professionals on fast food health advisory boards, having the endorsement of an entire organization of health professionals is even better. To that end, the fast food industry has partnered with a number of health professional organizations, sponsoring their annual gatherings, or even partnering with them on nutrition-related projects.  
 
The family physician might seem like an unbiased source of nutritional information, however, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has formed their own partnership with none other than McDonald’s, who is now a sponsor of the AAFP’s Americans in Motion program. The AAFP’s website proudly declares: “The AAFP welcomes partners such as McDonald's who support family physician's efforts to fight the battle against obesity and are making an effort to provide healthy food choices to consumers.”[1]

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) receives funding from many food corporations. Major fast food suppliers Coke and Pepsi are proudly displayed as major sponsors on the ADA webpage and McDonald’s and other fast food exhibits are common in the sponsor exhibition hall at their annual conference. Perhaps that is why the ADA proclaims there’s no such thing as a “bad food,”[2] and places responsibility for expanding waistlines solely on the consumer. It may also be why former ADA spokesperson, Cathy Kapica, served as Global Director of Nutrition for McDonald’s.[3]

1. Press Release, "AAFP's Fitness Initiative Partners with McDonald's Corporation," (September 30, 2005) American Academy of Family Physicians, http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/media/releases/2005/aimmcdonalds.html (accessed December 7, 2008).

2. Lorraine Shafer, et al., “Position of the American Dietetic Association: nutrition education for the public,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 96:11 (November, 1996): 1183-1187.

3. Karen Springen and Daniel McGinn, “McDonald’s: Hold the Cheese, Please,” Newsweek (June, 2004) http://www.newsweek.com/id/54082 (accessed December 7, 2008).