Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami Meets With President Bush and the First Lady to Discuss Network's Efforts on Childhood Obesity

Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami Meets With President Bush and the First Lady to Discuss Network's Efforts on Childhood Obesity

NEW YORK, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This morning, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group President, Cyma Zarghami, joined the President and Mrs. Bush, along with other food and beverage industry and entertainment executives and CEOs, the Ad Council and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at the White House to discuss the current effort towards the fight against childhood obesity.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070201/NYTH179 )

The meeting stemmed from the recent announcement by HHS, the Ad Council, Dreamworks SKG, Nickelodeon, and others about the launch of a new series of public service advertisements designed to help prevent childhood obesity featuring characters from the movie SHREK. Nickelodeon will premiere the SHREK "Be A Player" PSA on February 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and air it throughout the year as part of the network's on-going "Let's Just Play" campaign, which strives to encourage kids and families to make healthy lifestyle choices.

"Nickelodeon is honored to be a part of this forum today, and to be able to discuss with the President and First Lady, and many leaders in the food, beverage and media industries, how we can all work together to further the solution to childhood obesity," said Zarghami. "We've taken great strides as a company to encourage healthy lifestyles among kids, and we're pleased to see so many corporations collaborate to move the needle on this issue."

Participants, along with Zarghami, included: Indra Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo, Inc.; Marc Belton, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Health, Brand and New Business Development, General Mills; Peggy Conlon, President and CEO, The Advertising Council; Alexander "Sandy" Douglas, Jr., President and COO, Coca-Cola North America; Roger Enrico, Chairman of the Board, DreamWorks Animation SKG; Ivelisse Estrada, Senior Vice President, Corporate and Community Relations, Univision Communications, Inc.; Lance Friedmann, Senior Vice President, Global Health and Wellness and Sustainability, Kraft Foods, Inc.; Jeff Montie, Executive Vice President of North America, Kellogg Company; Tom Seddon, CEO, Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust; and Don Thompson, President, McDonald's USA.

More than 10 million school-age children in the United States are now considered overweight. The proportion of overweight kids tripled among adolescents over the last 25 years, and nearly doubled for children ages 6 to 12. This increases their risk for adult heart disease and diabetes, lowers life expectancy, and creates additional health-care costs. The Federal government spends more than $600 million annually to fight obesity.

Nickelodeon has committed more than $30 million and 10 percent of its non-programmed airtime to health and wellness messaging. This year marks the fifth year of Nickelodeon's award-winning, "Let's Just Play" pro-social initiative, which is a multi-media campaign that empowers kids to recapture the spirit and benefits of active play for themselves and their communities. The campaign builds on Nickelodeon's success connecting with kids through all its lines of business including online, magazines and on-air messaging. Over the past 2 years, Nickelodeon has also awarded approximately $2.5 million in grants and through its "Let's Just Play Giveaway" to schools and after-school programs to help provide resources that will create and expand opportunities for physical play.

In November 2005, "Let's Just Play" entered into a partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to combat the spread of childhood obesity. The three organizations combined forces on a comprehensive media and public awareness campaign: the Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge. To date, nearly 200,000 kids have pledged to "go healthy." Last year's Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge 2006 campaign recently culminated with the networks third annual Worldwide Day of Play, in which Nickelodeon went dark for three hours in order to encourage kids to get up, get out and play. More than 250,000 kids participated in more than 900 events held around the world. Nick's Worldwide Day of Play has motivated almost 1 million kids to get outside and play over the past three years.

Nickelodeon uses its multimedia platforms and the "Let's Just Play" campaign, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and other partners, to reach millions of young people across the country and promote healthy lifestyles among kids and communities. "Let's Just Play" has been recognized for excellence and achievement by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' prestigious Governors Award, was a CTPAA Golden Beacon Award Finalist, and has received more than 80 proclamations by both national and local elected officials. The campaign has also been cited by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Institute of Medicine and the Federal Trade Commission, among others, as an example of how media can make a positive impact on kids' lives. It has also received attention from national media, including CNN and Time magazine, and local press coverage in newspapers and broadcast outlets from top markets across the country.

For more information on Nickelodeon and It's pro-social efforts visit www.Nick.com/letsjustplay.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 92 million households and has been the number-one- rated basic cable network for almost 12 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA and)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070201/NYTH179
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN13
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses of Nickelodeon, +1-212-846-7326,
joanna.roses@nick.com

Web site: http://www.nick.com/
http://www.nick.com/letsjustplay

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