About the film

The film is a documentary The film was made in 2004 The film running time is 97 minutes The director, producer, writer and star is Morgan Spurlock He lives on a diet of nothing but McDonald's food for a month. He questions American eating habits Spurlock visits several specialists, including a GP, a nutritionist and a cardiologist. In his notes at the start, the GP records "general health outstanding" During the course of the film, Spurlock goes on to gain weight After five days there's been a five per cent increase in his body weight After 12 days he's gained 17lb (over seven kilos) By 22 days, all the specialists are giving him serious warnings. Spurlock's health has been seriously compromised

On average nearly one-third of U.S children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food on a daily basis. Over the course of a year this bad habit is likely to result in the child gaining six extra pounds every year. In a research experiment done by Paediatrics, 6,212 children and adolescents ages 4 to 19 years old were examined to find out some information about fast food. 30.3% of the total sample have reported to have eaten fast food on a given day Fast-food consumption was prevalent in both males and females, all racial/ethnic groups, and all regions of the country. Children who ate fast food, compared with those who did not, consumed more total fat, carbohydrates, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Children who ate fast food also ate less fibre, milk, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables. The researchers concluded that consumption of fast food by children seems to have a negative effect on an individual's diet, in ways that could significantly increase the risk for obesity.

Fast Food
What is fast food? Where do you buy fast food? How often do you eat fast food? How often do you think you should eat it?

What is your favourite food and drink?

Fast Food continued

How often do you and your family eat a home cooked meal at the dining table? How often do you and your family eat take-away food at home? Do you think that some take-away foods are healthier than others? How often do you and your family eat at a fast food restaurant? Ask your parents these same questions about their childhood. How have eating habits changed?

Your eating habits

Who is responsible for what you eat? How much information do you like to know about what youre eating? Food advertisements feature heavily on television, particularly late afternoon. Why this time? Should there be more control over advertising of unhealthy food?

Fast food advertising research

Keep a record of food advertisements on TV between 4-6pm over a one-week period. (Product / Target audience / Images / Slogans / Number of times advertisements appear in one night / Your reaction) After one week, bring your findings to the class and discuss these questions:
Did the advertisements influence you or your friends to buy the product? Did you compare your own life to the lives shown in the advertisements? In what ways could these advertising strategies be used positively?

McDonalds adverts
Watch each of the following two McDonalds adverts and note down your thoughts on the way it promotes the food.

Issues raised in the film

The following issues are raised in the film. Discuss what you think the film is going to show you.
The balance between corporate and personal responsibility for the food we eat. The effect of advertising and brand imprinting on young children. School canteens and the foods they serve How childrens exercise patterns have changed since the last generation.

About Morgan Spurlock

A graduate of the New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts, Super Size Me is Morgan Spurlocks first feature film. He was inspired to make the documentary after watching a news story about two teenagers suing McDonalds. Super Size Me is the first ever realitybased movie where everything begins and ends in 30 days. The camera captures the directors highs and lows as he sets out on his unhealthy diet and demonstrates to the viewers the effects of eating fast food.

Morgan Spurlock cont...

During his career Spurlock has conceived and created everything from commercials to music videos to television shows, and has worked with MTV, ESPN, NBC, FOX, TNT and VH-1. He is also the founder of The Con, the New York based production company behind the film. Super Size Me cost 37,000 ($65,000) which is a small budget for a film that had such a large impact. The documentary won over twenty-seven awards and prestigious accolades including Best Director, Sundance Film Festival and New Director Award, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2004.

Key facts from the film (1)...

Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant In 1972, we spent $3 billion a year on fast food - today we spend more than $110 billion

McDonald's feeds more than 46 million people a day - more than the entire population of Spain
French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America You would have to walk for seven hours straight to burn off a Super Sized Coke, fries and Big Mac In the U.S., we eat more than 1,000,000 animals an hour 60 percent of all Americans are either overweight or obese

One in every three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime

Key facts from the film (2)...

Left unabated, obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America

Obesity has been linked to: Hypertension, Coronary Heart Disease, Adult Onset Diabetes, Stroke, Gall Bladder Disease, Osteoarthritis, Sleep Apnea, Respiratory Problems, Endometrial, Breast, Prostate and Colon Cancers, Dyslipidemia, steatohepatitis, insulin resistance, breathlessness, Asthma, Hyperuricaemia, reproductive hormone abnormalities, polycystic ovarian syndrome, impaired fertility and lower back pain
The average child sees 10,000 TV advertisements per year Only seven items on McDonald's entire menu contain no sugar Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald - he was fired for being too fat

Key facts from the film (3)...

McDonald's distributes more toys per year than Toys-R-Us Diabetes will cut 17-27 years off your life McDonald's: "Any processing our foods undergo make them more dangerous than unprocessed foods" The World Health Organization has declared obesity a global epidemic McDonald's calls people who eat a lot of their food "heavy users" McDonald's operates more than 30,000 restaurants in more then 100 countries on 6 continents Before most children can speak they can recognize McDonald's Surgeon General David Satcher: "Fast food is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic" Nutritionists recommend not eating fast food more than once a month 40 percent of American meals are eaten outside the home McDonald's represents 43% of total U.S. fast food market

To do
McDonalds reaction to the film Language in the film see teaching supersize me doc Key concepts analysis