Kids' Health and Nutrition

Disney understands the challenges faced by parents in regard to their family's nutrition and wants to be part of the solution. As an enterprise engaged in operations around the world -- serving millions of meals a year in our Parks and Resorts, licensing food products bearing our brands and characters and producing and broadcasting popular children's entertainment -- we believe we can have a meaningful impact in this area.

In 2006, the Company announced new food guidelines aimed at giving parents and children healthier eating options. Under these guidelines, we committed to using our name and characters on kid-focused food products that meet specific criteria, including limits on calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar. We also set a long-term target for balancing our licensed food portfolio (our "portfolio balance goal") such that 85% will be everyday foods that meet our guidelines. The smaller portion of our offering, 15%, will include special-occasion items such as Disney birthday cakes, confectionary products and other occasional sweets. We believe that treat items are a relevant part of our offering because they are seen as an acceptable part of a balanced diet, and had we banished Disney treat items from birthdays and holidays, many people would have been terribly disappointed. We also announced nutritionally beneficial changes to kids meals served at all Disney-operated parks and resorts and unveiled a company-wide goal to eliminate added trans fat from food served at our parks and licensed and promotional products.

Disney-branded healthy snacks are nutritious options for kids.
Food products featuring Pooh, Tigger and friends reinforce Disney�s commitment to family nutrition.
Fresh fruits are available throughout Disney�s parks and resorts.

Progress

Since the announcement, we have achieved key goals and made significant progress toward others. Of note:

  • Nutritional guidelines for food promotions and food licensing have been developed and are being implemented globally.
  • As of January 2009, the vast majority of our licensed food portfolio contains 0 grams of trans fat, with the exception of products from a few licensees who plan to complete the transition by the end of 2009.
  • We have made good progress toward attaining our portfolio balance goal. In the U.S., 80% of our licensed food portfolio is comprised of everyday foods that meet our nutritional guidelines, including many fresh fruits and vegetables featuring favorite Disney characters. Globally, we expect to reach 64% in 2009.
  • The changes to our "kids meals," first announced in 2006, are now in effect at Disney parks and resorts worldwide. Specifically, when guests order a kids meal including a drink and side dish, it now automatically includes healthier side dishes (e.g. apples) and beverages (e.g. milk) as the default instead of fries and soft drinks.
  • The new, healthier kids meals at our parks and resorts have been well received. We are seeing the overwhelming majority of families stick with the healthier beverages and side dishes in most markets. Fresh fruit, juices and waters also continue to be popular with guests. See "Healthy Sides and Drink Adoption" graph for consumer response.
  • In addition, all food served at Disney-operated restaurants worldwide meet zero grams trans fat standards where comparable products are available in the market place.

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Positive Use of Media

Beyond offering healthier food options, we're helping to shape children's preferences by integrating healthy messages into our kids programs. Episodes of Hannah Montana, short-form programs featuring the Jonas Brothers and the Pass the Plate series featuring Suite Life on Deck star Brenda Song, among others, have sought to encourage good nutrition and active lifestyles in a way that kids embrace.

We are also empowering children and families with information and education about healthy lifestyles in other ways. For example, to help teach children about the food pyramid, we added information on our food package panels and developed the www.disney.com/healthykids educational website, created the "Secrets of the Pyramid" short program series, and partnered with the USDA and Food Council to create the Bare Necessities of Healthy Living public service announcement featuring characters from The Jungle Book.

Looking Forward

As we look to the future, we are committed to making more progress in this area. We have identified several priorities for our kids' health and nutrition initiative and will continue to find new ways to collaborate with stakeholders, bring nutritious offerings to market and inspire healthier lifestyles using our media strength.