Supersize Me 1

Savannah Carlson
NUTR-1020-514-Sp21
April 25 2021 SuperSize Me
I chose the documentary Supersize me by Morgan Spurlock. I chose this because I
watched it in one of my middle school classes and it has made a big impact on my life and my
food choices. It was very informative to watch it again after all these years as I have gained more
life experience and learned much more about nutrition and healthy food habits, especially
through this class. The author of this documentary is Morgan Spurlock and he is an
award-winning writer, director, producer and documentarian. This documentary was actually his
first film. The reason that he decided to film this documentary was to bring attention and
document the negative health issues that can occur with over eating fast food. Which is common
in America due to such large serving sizes.
Morgan Spurlock chose to make this film to show how fast food can negatively impact
health. He focused mainly on the most popular fast food chain, McDonalds. This Documentary
explores America’s growing ‘epidemic’ of obesity. Which was stated in the film by Dr. David
Satcher, The Surgeon General in 2000. To show just how unhealthy fast food really is, Morgan
challenged himself to eat nothing but McDonald's food for thirty days. He had to eat one of
everything on the menu at least once and if the employees asked if he wanted to get ‘supersize’
he had no choice but to say yes. For more accuracy, Morgan's experiment also included changing
his physical activity to that of most average Americans, about 5,000 steps a day. Not only did
this diet of only Mcdonalds affect his physical health but his mental health as well. This film also
heavily focused on the impact and influence that fast food had on children. It talked about how
Mcdonalds had an indoor playground for children, cartoons on television and catchy songs. An
example of this was when Morgan asked a family to say the pledge of allegiance but they
couldn’t remember the words. When asked about the big mac slogan they knew it word for word.
Advertising is extremely influential in this day and age and when this documentary was filmed.
Children in the film were able to recognize Ronals Mcdonals, but not George Washington or
Jesus.
Morgan went into this experiment prepared for what could happen by having several doctors and
specialists on hand to make sure he was in good health. For further research purposes he called
100 nutritionists for their opinions on fast food and how often people should eat it. Out of 100,
45 said to never eat fast food. 28 said you could eat it once a week to once a month and only 2
said you could eat it two or more times a week. However, 95 nutritionists agree that fast food is
a major contributor to the obesity epidemic sweeping america. In total, after 30 days of eating
only Mcdonalds, Morgan gained 25 pounds and had put a lot of strain on his heart and liver.
Approximately he ate about 30lbs of sugar and 12lbs of fat.
This film was produced 17 years ago in 2004. Even though it was so long ago, the topics
and themes covered are relative today and conditions are the same if not worse. With the fast
food industry growing, especially with COVID-19 I believe that more people should watch this
to become aware. Advertising and Marketing are still a huge way for businesses to get business.
The majority of advertisements out there are for fast food chains, this is how it was back then
and how it is now.

If we go back to the very first chapter in our textbook’s on page 6 it states “Marketing
and advertising are major tools for capturing the food interest of the consumer. Consumers have
more food choices than ever and the food industry in the United States spends billions on
Advertising. Some of this advertising is helpful as it promotes the importance of healthy food
components such as calcium and fiber, however the food industry also advertises highly
sweetened cereals, cookies, snacks and soft drinks because they bring in the greatest profits.
Studies have shown an association between TV advertising of foods and drinks and childhood
obesity in the United States. A recent study found that preschoolers who are not hungry and who
watched a show embedded with food advertisements consumed more calories from snacks than
those who saw a non-food advertisements” This ties to Supersize me because of what I
previously stated where kids could recognize Ronald Mcdonald but not historical or religious
persons.
With this documentary being focused on childhood obesity, ‘Among children and
adolescents ages 2 to 19, about 1 in 6 were considered to have obesity, about 1 in 17 were
considered to have extreme obesity. ‘(NIDDK.Gov Overweight & Obesity Statistics) Chapter 7,
page 261 states that those with extreme obesity will need a doctor’s help to lose weight.
“There is no doubt that the Obesity epidemic threatens the future health of Americans. It
is estimated that 39.8% of adults were obese in 2015 to 2016. With obesity defined as having an
excessive amount of body fat relative to lean tissue. Considered more broadly, two-thirds of
adults and one third of children are overweight or obese.” This excerpt is from Chapter 1, page
19 in our textbooks. In the documentary it states that “ if current trends continue, one out of
every 3 children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.” From 2004, when this
documentary was made, and the statistics in 2015 to 2016 this statement has unfortunately been
proven to be true. A quote by Dr. David Satcher, “One of the most disturbing things to me is that
in the last 20 to 25 years, we've actually seen a doubling of overweight and obese children and
adolescents.”
With this assignment I learned a lot about nutrition. I saw this documentary when I was a
kid but I didn’t take away as much information as I did this time around. I learned that eating fast
food often can take a serious toll on mental health as well as your organs. I learned that you can
always choose to eat foods that are healthier. You always have a choice, even at fast food
restaurants. It is always better to make your own meals at home and if you’re unable to then ask
the restaurant for a nutrition sheet or look online for one. These are both things that I don’t do
but would like to try to see if it helps to improve my emotional state, my mental status and my
physical well being.

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Savannah Carlson

April 25 2021 SuperSize Me

I chose the documentary Supersize me by Morgan Spurlock. I chose this because I

in America due to such large serving sizes.

Approximately he ate about 30lbs of sugar and 12lbs of fat.

and how it is now.

physical well being.

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