McDonald’s have been urged by health officials to retire their mascot Ronald McDonald in a bid to halt child obesity.

The fast food chain have been accused of being unethical for marketing junk food directly to children and were asked to stop doing so in a public letter published in many U.S newspapers yesterday.

The letter, featured in full on lettertomcdonalds.org, was addressed to McDonalds CEO Jim Skinner on behalf of doctors throughout the United States.

It read: “The rates of sick children are staggering. Ballooning health care costs and an overburdened health care system make treatment more difficult than ever and we know that reducing junk food marketing can significantly improve the health of kids.

“Our community is devoted to caring for sick children and preventing illness through public education but our efforts cannot compete with the hundreds of millions of dollars you spend each year directly marketing to kids.”

It added that if the fast good giant stopped marketing to children, the marketing news would spread and encourage other fast food outlets to do the same.

Jim Skinner responded to the outcries by denying that McDonalds has ever pushed junk food on children.

In an interview with The Financial Times he was defiant in his claims that Ronald McDonald would remain an ambassador for the McDonalds brand for years to come.

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