Your Tax Dollars in Action

The federal government is worried Dora the Explorer is contributing to childhood obesity.
The National Science Foundation awarded two grants totaling $750,000 to find out if cartoon characters are making children overweight and whether researchers can hone the marketing power of characters to sway kids’ eating habits.The first grant, totaling $300,000, was awarded to Ellen Wartella, a psychology professor at Northwestern University. Sandra Calvert, the director of the Children’s Digital Media Center at Georgetown University, received $450,000. [Source]