Introduction
Feeding is a basic necessity for the survival of every human being. A person should eat a diet that is capable of sustaining all the body activities. The various types of foods available usually include carbohydrates, fibre, protein, fat, vitamin and minerals. These food types have various uses in the body and the deficiency or excess of any could lead to illness, complications or even death. Thus, people should take a diet that is good for their health.
The health of a person is very important as it usually determines how productive a person will be. People usually prepare foods or sometimes buy them in restaurants and fast food shops. The foods provided should be of the required standard to avoid some effects. This paper seeks to analyze the movie “super size me” which is about fast foods and gives advice to parents on fast foods.
Fast Foods
The movie analyses the effect of taking fast foods has had on the society. When Morgan was young, most of the food he ate was prepared at home by his mother. Over the years the number of people of people taking fast foods has been increasing year in year out. The fast food shops are scattered all over the world and are found even in institutions such as hospitals where they are least expected. In America more than half the children and adolescent population is suffering from obese or overweight due to these foods.
In America obesity and smoking are among the leading causes of preventable deaths. Due to the increased number of obese people in America, the companies involved were sued. Despite these, many people have continuously been buying fast foods.
The food sold in fast food shops are not of the required standard and thus they have led to negative health impacts on the victims. There is a problem in people do not understand the boundaries between individual responsibility and corporate responsibility. The movie was intended to check the effects of taking these fast foods on the health conditions of a person.
In undertaking his experiment on the effects of fast foods on human health, Morgan visited three doctors to examine his health status. These doctors undertook in-depth analysis of his health status and also on hereditary diseases that he could be suffering from. They considered aspects such as cholesterol level, eyesight and digestive system among others.
After the in-depth analysis, his health status was found to be good. He was given more information about the effects of cholesterol levels in relation to other diseases such as heart disease. A nutritionist/dietician was also incorporated in the undertaking of the experiment and she was to monitor the progress. All the records about his weight and body mass were kept and he was tested for his physical fitness. He was given advice on the physical exercise which was walking he was to undertake daily.
On the first day he went to the fast food shop where he had his breakfast after which he undertook a physical exercise of walking. He had his scorecard where he recorded the food he had taken for the breakfast. In taking his meals, he had some rules and guidelines which he was to follow. The rules included: he could only super size when asked, he was to eat food from McDonalds and also take water from there, he was to take everything on the menu during the time he was undertaking the experiment and had to have three meals daily.
In attacking the fast foods shops, it was argued that the cause of the problem could neither be the restaurants because they had been in existence for long nor the foods because people had been taking the foods prior before the establishment of the fast food shops. The problem was viewed to arise from failure to take responsibility.
The fast food shops were seen to have most facilities required by children for playing and entertainment. The people who sued the fast food industry were doing so for the concern of children. Due to the obese condition becoming a national epidemic, it caught the interest of medical practitioners to intervene and look out for the root cause (Kwanash 2).
The fast food shops motivate their customers to buy supersize quantities of the products they offered. This was achieved by providing small price margins for their super size products in respect to the other packages. Initially the fast food shop never used to do this but as time passed, they increased the packaging size to bigger sizes whose quantities were too much higher in respect to the recommended quantity.
This acted as an excitement to the customers and they took more than their capacities which sometimes resulted to stomach disorders and sometimes vomiting.
Impacts
By the third day Morgan had experienced some stomach disorders and part of his body such as his penis experienced some abnormal feelings. Obese was predicted to overtake smoking in the number of deaths it caused annually.
The obese and overweight condition was observed to result to body disorders and diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, gall bladders disease, respiratory problems, indometrial cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, asthma, impaired fertility and diabetes among others. Diseases such as diabetes, if they affect someone when young, are found to reduce the life span. These diseases thus are found to have effects on human performance and economic strengths with too many resources directed to them.
There are some people who suffered from the obese and overweight condition but overcame the problem. These people acted as a motivator to others as they saw that it was still possible to achieve their good health back. By the fifth day, Morgan’s body weight had increased by a significant percentage (Spurlock 5).
It was argued by Spurlock in his defense that processed foods are not as healthy as unprocessed foods. The intensive advertisement undertaken by the fast food shops usually makes them known by a big percentage of the population including the children. The advertisements are in the things we use daily such as clothing and toys for the children among others.
Nutrition
Most of the foods sold by these fast foods companies need more details about them. Although this information was available, most people were never concerned about the information. Taking too much food than the body requires was found to have consequences (Marc and Marc 2).
The problem could be prevented by avoiding such foods. Some of the food provided to children in school is packed and thus the food with the correct constituents should be selected. The means of preparation of these foods could interfere with the health fitness requirement.
Spurlock in his book Don’t eat this book argued that the information about the various foods available to parents is insufficient (Spurlock 4). When this information is availed to them, the parents should educate the children about the possible consequences. In school children should be educated and provided with physical exercise activities and lessons to improve their health (Spurlock 4). The combined efforts could assist in solving the problems. These fast foods are addictive and this sometimes leads to some people using much more than their requirement.
Conclusion
Super-size me is a documentary that shows the effect of fast foods. During the transition, Morgan encountered so many problems which included heart problems. This is a clear indication on the health impacts fast foods may have on us. Thus, this documentary movie acts as an eye opener for the possible consequences. People should enquire more about these foods and proper education provided to children by their parents and other people on the health hazards of such foods.
Works cited
Kwanash, Aidoo. Public relations issues and crisis management. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia, 2005. Print.
Marc, Joey and Marc, Richard. Please Mum, Don’t Supersize Me! Dulwich, Australia: Rockpool Publishing, 2008. Print. Print.
Spurlock, Morgan. Super-size me: malbouffe Ă l’amĂ©ricaine. Toronto: Alliance Atlantis, 2004. Print.
Spurlock, Morgan. Don’t eat this book: fast food and the supersizing of America. New York: NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2005. Print.