Super Size Me

Epidemic in America Caused By Fast Food Industries

Many people become familiar when they see the significant "Golden Arches" of McDonald's. Children under the age of nine can distinguish the familiar face of Ronald McDonald. This goes to show that fast food restaurants have a huge impact on children and what they like to eat. Many people have protested against the food that McDonald produces and sells, saying it is unhealthy and causes a high rate of obesity in America. In the documentary Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock undergoes an experiment where he has to eat three portions of McDonald meals for one whole month. This diet that he undertakes shows how harmful McDonald's foods can make a person health in a very short period of time. This affects citizens in America because they are the ones being targeted by these industries. These companies are using propaganda techniques to target low income families and young children, which has caused an epidemic disease of obesity in America. This experiment makes many people think realistically how fast food industries are the ones to be blamed for the obesity in our country. .

Before Morgan Spurlock's McDonald diet, Spurlock was a very healthy man. He ate very healthy and watched what he ate. His wife was a vegan chef and cooked healthy vegetarian food for him everyday. Prior to the experiment, Spurlock went to many doctors to get a physical analysis of his body, and to ask whether it was a good idea to do this experiment. The results showed that Spurlock was very healthy. They doctors also told him that it was a bad idea to do this experiment, and people should not even be eating fast food more than once a week. After the first week of his experiment he started to feel sick. He even gained 20 pounds in less than two weeks. He also becomes addicted to fast food and when he did not eat it, he would have unusual mood swing which made him irritable. The fast food made him throw up and by the end of the experiment he found out that his liver was deteriorating. His experiment showed the affects of eating fast food in a short period of time.

Although the documentary did prove a point, eating McDonald's everyday is very unhealthy. The question still remain, do people really eat fast food everyday? In some cases they do. Studies showed that "Low-income, African-American families are hit hardest by America's raging obesity epidemic" (Washington). Fast food industries target low income families in urban cities, knowing that families in unstable environments would choose fast food because of its convenience and easily accessibility. These industries market their products by posting large billboards showing their "Value Menu." Marketing inexpensive food has made the urban community undermine the unhealthy food McDonald's advertises. Since low income families struggle with budget and financial problems, they would usually take the easy way to feed their family and purchase food from fast food restaurants instead of taking the time to cook a decent meal at home.

Although people believe that fast food industries are to blame because "an estimate of 65 percent of the U.S. adults are either overweight or obese" (Flegal), other may believe that it is a persons own responsibility to watch what they eat and take care of themselves. Some say that fast food restaurants are not to be blamed for obesity, but that people are to blame for not watching what they consume. If knowing that fast food is bad for a person's health, it is still a personal choice to purchase that good. Others may also say that there are plenty of other restaurants to choose from, why choose McDonald's?

Yes there may be other restaurants that can provide the same satisfactions that will relieve one's hunger, but what happens when little children are involved and they prefer a specific place to eat. "Food companies spend at least $10 billion annually enticing children to desire food brands and to pester parents to buy them" (Nestle). Advertisement has become such a major source of income for fast food industries that children are distracted by the colorful cartoon characters, and are undermining the fact that fast foods are not healthy. However, children are not to blame, nor the parents. Fast food industry's marketing skills are so genius that it is hard for a parent to deny fast food to their children. Corporations come up with catch slogans, and promotions like the toy that comes in every "happy meal". In a scene from the documentary "Super Size Me", Spurlock goes into a kindergarten class room and shows a few pictures to students. They were to call out the names of the picture they saw. When the picture of President George W. Bush came up, none of the students knew who he was. On the contrary, when the picture of Ronald McDonald was shown, every single kid in the class knew who he was. This proves that fast food advertisements are using propagandas to attract young consumers and that