A controversy involving The Walt Disney Company and a study it funded looking at the nutritional value of the children’s meals served in Disney Parks has developed after e-mails show the company trying to dissuade an academic journal from publishing the study. According to PBS, Disney wasn’t not worried about the findings of the study but were instead concerned about the perception of corporately funded studies and their association with James Hill of the University of Colorado School of Medicine who authored the study. Previously a study by Hill sponsored by Coca-Cola grew criticism for allegedly downplaying the apparent connection between sugary drinks and obesity.
From PBS:
In one email, Hill told Disney an editor at the journal had advised him that “we risk some real negative PR if anyone found out that Disney was even trying to influence publication.” The company relented, but was later offered an opportunity to tailor the press release about the study’s findings. That, too, was unusual.
The emails do not indicate that Disney influenced the findings, but they open a rare window on the back-and-forth between researchers and a corporate sponsor. They also mark what experts described as an unusual degree of corporate involvement in an academic study.
The study, published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, was a retrospective analysis of kids’ meals sold at Disney World.
The authors looked at data from all 145 Disney World restaurants since it revamped its children’s menus to offer healthier default choices. In the new model, parents who want to order soda or fries for their kids — instead of choices like low-fat milk, fruit, or carrots — have to ask for them.
The study found that nearly half the meals ordered for the children included the healthy default side dishes and two-thirds included the healthier drinks.
The authors wrote that these choices resulted in significant reductions in calories, fat, and sodium in the kids’ meals, but not sugar.
After the study was accepted by the journal, Disney tried to press the authors not to publish it. The editor, Brian Wansink, a Cornell University professor who edited the issue, told the authors it was too late to pull it.
When asked about the study, a Disney spokesperson said, “Given the recent issues regarding Dr. Hill and the university, we questioned the wisdom of publishing the study.” Meanwhile, Hill says he is “happy the scientific community was able to learn about the good work with food that Disney is doing in their parks.” He also defended the practice of sponsored studies, saying, “I am sorry that companies like Disney have to worry about negative PR from funding research. We need more, not less, research.”