Miles Adair

I chose to watch the movie Supersize Me for this research paper. I

wanted to watch this documentary because my wife and I love eating fast

foods and McDonalds is, admittedly, a favorite of ours. I was hoping that by

watching this documentary we would become more informed about the

dangers of eating fast food on a regular basis and that it would help motivate

us to make a lifestyle change. This documentary explores what would

happen to an average human being if they consumed nothing but

McDonalds for every meal for a month. In addition to only eating

McDonalds, Spurlock also decided to limit his physical activity to reflect the

unfortunate habits of a large majority of Americans. He noted that most

Americans lead very sedentary lives and often choose fast food options

because they are quick, easy to access (especially from the comfort and

convenience of their cars) and cheap. For this project, Spurlock had four

main rules: He had to eat only what was available at McDonalds restaurants,

he had to eat each item on the menu at least one time, he had to eat at

McDonalds for all three meals daily, and he had to supersize his meal

whenever the option was offered to him (Morales 2004). Although Spurlock

himself is not an expert in nutrition or health, he consulted with several

doctors and nutrition experts before, during and after his experiment.

Spurlock is a writer and director who graduated from New York Universitys

Tisch School of the Arts (Morales 2004). (As an interesting side note, his
girlfriend that he lived with is a professional vegan chef and was strongly

opposed to this experiment.)

During the course of the documentary, Spurlock travels across the U.S.

visiting various McDonalds restaurants and providing interesting facts about

the nutrition habits and health decline of the United States. He also provides

interesting insights into the school lunch system and eating habits in what

was the fattest city in the U.S., Houston, Texas. Before beginning his project,

Spurlock weighed 182.2 pounds, had 11% body fat and cholesterol of 168,

and was declared to be in great health by three doctors. After his month of

eating only McDonalds and living a very sedentary life, his weight went up

to 202 pounds (which means he gained more than 5% of his total body

weight); his body fat increased to 18% and his cholesterol went up to 225.

His regular body functions also suffered, specifically in the terms of irregular

chest pain and his liver functions. According to one of his doctors, A liver

thats sick in any way will leak some of its enzymes out into the blood. This is

very non-specific, but it means [his] liver is sick. The cause of [his] sickness

is fatty liver. [His] liver is now like pate (Spurlock 2004).

Overall, Spurlocks message is not one specifically against fast food,

although the data he collected and proved through his experiment argue

strongly that fast food should be consumed at the very least in moderation.

The change in his health and body functions alone speak to the fact that this

is not food that our bodies are capable of handling regularly and that in order

to perform the various functions that we as humans need to do each day we

need to fuel our bodies with nutritious foods and drinks. He also brought to

light the interesting conundrum facing children who eat lunch as school and

the advertising that specifically targets children. Throughout the film he

provides an interested and not overly pointed commentary about the role

that corporations play in the food choices we make each day and carefully

urges viewers to make choices wisely when it comes to their health and

nutrition.

This documentary was produced in 2004 and I think is definitely still

relevant today, if not more so. Spurlock was absolutely correct: we live in a

society that is not physically active and that seeks food options that are fast,

easy and affordable. While there is nothing wrong with valuing convenience,

when we are trading our health and the health of our family for the time that

it would take to purchase and prepare a nutritious meal, that is when it

becomes a problem and that is where we are largely as a society. However,

in the past few years various health trends have developed among various

sects of society focused on veganism, eating raw and organic foods, living a

yogi lifestyle, participating in the Whole 30 lifestyle, and body building for

gainz, a term used by people on social media to reflect gains in muscle

mass, and etc. I personally think that with the increase in widespread use of

social media sites (including Facebook and Instagram) within the last 10

years that it has become trendier or more fashionable to belong to one of

these groups discussed above or to be involved in some form of a diet or

another. Despite these movements, I still feel that too many Americans
depend on fast food as a way of life instead of as an occasional treat and

that this is having adverse effects on their personal health and on the

healthcare system in our country.

One of the topics that the documentary addressed was the lack of

variety of foods that Americans eat on a daily basis. Many Americans eat the

same things day after day, including fast food. In our textbook it discusses

the importance of eating a variety of foods and explains a variety of foods is

best because no one food meets all of your nutrient needs (Wardlaw, Smith,

& Collene 2015). It also points out that people who consume a variety of

foods regularly are less likely to be at risk of developing one of the nutrition-

related diseased. Another topic discussed in both the documentary and the

textbook is obesity. In the documentary it briefly discusses the increase in

obesity in the U.S. and also the unsettling increase in childhood obesity in

the U.S. The book also explores these subjects and notes in the last 25

years there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of individuals

who are overweight or obese. The ranks of the obese are growing in North

America and worldwide) (Wardlaw, Smith, & Collene 2015). I mentioned

briefly above that the documentary discusses the impact that advertising

has on our food choices, especially when children are concerned and that

consumers are more likely to purchase foods that they see featured in

commercials or their favorite television shows. The textbook also discusses

the impact that advertising can have on consumer food choices. According to

the book, Researchers at Yale University found that in 2009, the 20 largest
fast-food restaurant chains spent $3.8 billion on advertising, primarily

television ads. Food advertising and marketing have been shown to have a

definite effect on weight gain in children and adolescents (Wardlaw, Smith,

& Collene 2015).

I found this documentary to be thoroughly fascinating and feel that I

learned a lot from watching it and completing this assignment. One new idea

that I learned about was how powerful advertising can be in terms of food,

especially when children are concerned. I guess I never thought about the

fact that many fast food chains have mascots or characters that children like

or can relate to. I also learned what probably should be obvious to most

people: fast food is not really the healthiest, most nutritious choice that you

could make when you are trying to decide what to have for dinner. Although

many fast food restaurants provide what may appear to be healthier

options, such as salads, many of the ingredients still contain high levels of

sugar, salt and fats and therefore are not wholly good for you. You would be

better off making your own salad at home and using a low fat, low sodium

vinaigrette if you really want a healthy choice.

I think that I will incorporate the things that I learned from watching

this documentary in my own life. My wife and I were both horrified by the

weight gain and physical declines that Spurlock experienced and we do not

want to be unhealthy or to age prematurely. We have decided together to

recommit to shopping for groceries and preparing our meals at home. We

want to make healthier choices and to provide a good example for our little
girl so that she will have an easier time making good, healthy choices when

she gets older.

Works Cited

Supersize Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock. Supersize Me.
N.p., n.d. Web.
Wardlaw, Gordon M., Anne M. Smith, and Angela Collene. Contemporary
nutrition: a functional approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.
Print.

Morales, Tatiana. "From 2004: 'Super Size Me'" CBS News. CBS Interactive, 06
May 2004. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.