Saturday, August 1, 2009

Fast Food and Obesity Work Hand in Hand Towards a Bigger World

By Sarah Gardner

In an effort to prove that the fast food industry is responsible for the growing obesity rate in the United States, independent filmmaker Morgan Spurlock followed a 30-day diet modification program that consisted only consuming only food from the McDonalds menu.

He wanted to show the world exactly how the fast food industry achieves its main interest of financial gain by continuing to promote unhealthy eating habits. The 2004 Academy Award nominated movie, Super Size Me, concentrated on the current global health and weight epidemic and proved to many that the fast food industry is working hand in hand with obesity to create a bigger world.

Fast Food and Obesity Provide Ground Rules for a Documentary Style Film

Spurlock?s dietary requirement for the film included 5,000 calories per day of McDonald?s menu items. He was required to eat at the restaurant three times per day, consuming every item on the menu at least once in the thirty-day period. Prior to beginning his experiment, Spurlock was a thirty-two year old, healthy man that stood 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds. He gained 24.5 pounds in 30 days. His Body Mass Index (BMI) went from 23.2 to 27.

Considering that a healthy BMI for someone of his age, height and weight is between 19 and 25, it was apparent that he had moved up to the overweight bracket whilst following the McDonald's diet plan for this short period of time. Spurlock's claim that fast food and obesity are related was proven to many by these facts alone. The first five days of the fast food diet plan saw him gain in the region of ten pounds in weight.

Results of Fast Food And Obesity Experiment

The movie created by Spurlock made a huge impression on the United States and other nations who to this date had supported the McDonald's fast food industry and although the company denied the movie to be the reason, McDonald's quickly phased out the supersize option on their menu and added salads as a healthy option for their customers to take.

Many of the healthy eating options consist of fried chicken and the salad dressings to go with them are simply full of fat. As a result, these choices actually contain more calories and grams of fat than the traditional McDonald's burger and fries. Nonetheless, McDonalds have never actually admitted that fast food and obesity are closely related; just as they have never agreed that their menu items are a direct recipe to obesity.

While McDonalds does provide a fast food fat-filled meal for its customers, they do provide healthy alternatives. However, you cannot force a customer to eat healthy just because the option exists. The McDonalds menu can be modified by personal ordering preferences to be lower in fat; most customers do not make these modifications.

This would lead us to believe that training the customer to think about what they eat holds more importance than pointing the finger at big businesses. Subway have made a concerted effort to broadcast their healthy eating practices and the options available on their menu whilst McDonald's have continued to sell the products which have made them so well known, ignoring for the best part any health guidelines whatsoever. Therefore, it would appear to be the responsibility of the consumer to make the right decision about exactly what they eat.

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