The first Ronald was the TV weatherman Willard Scott in his younger years.

Scott had been doing Bozo the Clown on local television.

When the show was canceled, an enterprising McDonald’s franchise asked him to come up with a clown figure that would lure the kids into the restaurant.

Ray Kroc, owner of McDonald’s, saw the clown, liked the idea and extended it to the whole country.

Adults bear an enormous responsibility for the obesity epidemic among children.

Yet there’s also no question that even conscientious parents and guardians, who really do try to do well by kids and teach them healthy life choices, are not playing on a level field.

They’re going up against billions of dollars spent every year in corporate marketing, all aimed at teaching kids to make exactly the opposite sorts of choices

The fast-food giant hit back at a group of 550 doctors and health-care professionals who took out ads in U.S. newspapers demanding that the company do away with its redheaded clown mascot and its other marketing towards kids.

“Stop making the next generation sick — retire Ronald and the rest of your junk-food marketing to kids,” said Dr. Steven Rothschild, an associate professor of preventative medicine at Rush Medical College in a release on Wednesday.