McDonald's CEO Don Thompson made a super-sized statement at an annual shareholders meeting last week where he said he lost 20 pounds after eating McDonald's food in an attempt to squash links between the fast food chain and obesity.
At the company's annual shareholders' meeting last week in Oak Brook, Ill., revealed he shed the weight s in the past year by getting his "butt up" and "working out again." But he said he hasn't changed his habit of eating at McDonald's "every, single day."
He went on to say that he eats his company's food "every, single day" and said the only reason American's are gaining weight is due to lack of exercise. He drew comparisons to Europeans who he says "walk a lot" and that it's rare to see Europeans that are "very, very heavy".
"And so I think that balance is really important to people," he added.
At the same meeting, he was interrogated by Hannah Robertson, 9, who asked why there weren't healthier options on the menu for kids.
"Something that I don't think is fair is when big companies try to trick kids into eating food that isn't good for them by using toys and cartoon characters," Hannah said, whose mother is a nutrition blogger.
"It would be nice if you stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat your food all the time. I make cooking videos with my mom that show kids that eating healthy can be fun and yummy. We teach them that eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies makes kids healthier, smarter and happier because that is the truth...Mr. Thompson, don't you want kids to be healthy so they can live a long and happy life?"
Thompson took the defense when answering Robertson's question. "We don't sell junk food, Hannah," said Thompson, adding that his own children enjoy eating McDonald's.
"My kids also eat McDonald's. When they were about your size, to my son who is with us today, who was a little bit bigger, he was a football player, and also they cook with me at home," he said. "I love to cook. We cook a lot of fruits and veggies at home."
