Disney World shuts Obesity exhibit, Disney World's Epcot Center has quickly shuttered a childhood obesity interactive exhibit featuring such characters as the morbidly obese Lead Bottom and the beady-eyed Glutton.

Complaints put the kibosh on the exhibit soon after its opening in February, and Disney reportedly is retooling it.

Among critics of the Habit Heroes attraction was Yoni Freedhoff, a family doctor and director of a Canadian weight loss clinic. He wrote a blog post about the exhibit after reading an Orlando Sentinel article describing the attraction.

That post “took on a life of its own,” Freedhoff said Friday in an interview with The Times, and 48 hours later the exhibit had been pulled due to a clamor of complaints.

The article that "set off red flags” for Freedhoff described the attraction as taking 12 visitors at a time through interactive rooms accompanied by heroes Will Power and Callie Stenics; the "enemies" to be battled were characters with massive bellies and slothful tendencies.

Freedhoff said in his post that Habit Heroes reinforced “hateful negative obesity stereotyping.”

The attraction took the approach of "shame," Freedhoff told The Times, continuing "bullying they might have experienced at school right into the magical world of Disney."

"When was the last time that shaming a kid helped them change their lives?" Freedhoff said. Overweight people have "no shortage of shame or guilt," he added. "If those were sufficient, the world would be a very skinny place."

Freedhoff said that not all the reaction to his post was positive, with some commenters saying Disney was just stating the truth. Others online also expressed support for the exhibit.

The National Assn. to Advance Fat Acceptance was not among the supporters. On its website, the nonprofit group posted a news release titled, "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! A-Stigmatizing Fat Kids We Go!"

Peggy Howell, public relations director with the organization, said in an email Friday to The Times that members of the advisory board wrote to Disney to express their concern.

NAAFA board member Barbara Bruno wrote: "Depression, despair, bullying, disordered eating and other unhealthy practices will be increased for children of all sizes who view Epcot’s Habit Heroes Exhibit."

"It was nice to hear," Howell said, "that a Disney representative has been calling people who send letters objecting to Habit Heroes."

Disney spokeswoman Kathleen Prihoda confirmed that Disney had made calls to letter writers. In an interview Friday with The Times, Prihoda said that Habit Heroes had been in a "soft-open period ... an important part of the process" during which feedback is collected and "adjustments" are made.

Prihoda said Disney was reworking the attraction with the goal of ensuring "it conveys a positive message about healthy lifestyles in a fun way, and we hope to open it soon."

Freedhoff commended Disney's quick action to close the exhibit: "Disney's not in the business of making kids feel badly about themselves, so I'm not surprised they immediately recognized what was going on."

He said, however, that Disney could take more constructive steps to combat childhood obesity in the future. For instance, the company could "actually provide foods in their park that their Habit Heroes would consider consuming."