A fast-food giant got the public relations equivalent of free-fries yesterday with a personal endorsement from a Northland Health boss.
The words of support came during the launch of New Zealand's first Ronald McDonald Mobile Dental Care Unit at Pakaraka School.
The fully equipped state-of-the-art mobile unit, licensed to Northern District Health
Board (NHDB) from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), will provide dental care to up to 2500 children each year.
Opponents of the plan, including the Green Party, believe it should be shelved because of perceivable links with McDonald's.
However, politicians praised the initiative yesterday and swept aside the bad press.
Labour MP Dover Samuels acknowledged there had been controversy ``but who worries about controversy''.
The community was more concerned about their children's dental health, Mr Samuels said.
Northland District Health Board chairperson Lynette Stewart went a step further, acknowledging that she took her own grandchildren to McDonald's for their birthdays.
She asked how many Pakaraka School pupils had brushed their teeth.
A show of hands showed almost all had.
She then asked how many of the children liked McDonald's, again almost all put their hands up.
Improving children's dental health in Northland was a priority for the district health board. She also voiced support for the fluoridation of the region's water supplies.
Northland children had one of the worst tooth decay rates in the country, nearly twice the national average. Only 35 percent of children under the age of five in Northland are free of tooth decay.
After her speech, Ms Stewart said the health board "would not be backing off" its decision to enter into the sponsorship deal.
She added that the Ronald McDonald House Charities was separate from McDonald's and it would have been irresponsible for the board not to accept the offer, given the tooth decay rates in the region.
Ronald McDonald House Charities executive director Sarah Hood said the organisation, which aimed to improve children's health, was "not McDonald's".
It was pathetic that groups were criticising the valuable initiative "for their own gains", she said.
Pakaraka School pupil Te Aroha Parkinson said the new dental unit was "cool" and although she did not like going to the dentist "it would be awesome to get in it".
