THERE'S NO QUESTION that America is getting fatter by the day. According to the Centers for Disease Control, next to smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity are the leading causes of preventable death in this country. Two out of three adults and 37 percent of children are considered to be overweight or obese. A new study shows that the average child's blood pressure is up, increasing the risks of early hypertension. Yet despite these warning signs, Americans are consuming in larger amounts than ever.
Just walk into your local 7-Eleven for a fountain drink and witness the enormity of the drink sizes: There's the traditional Big Gulp (32 ounces), the Super Big Gulp (44 ounces), and the X-Treme Gulp Mug (52 ounces or 1.5 liters!)--not to mention the more curiously named Slurp and Gulp (32 ounces of soda plus 22 ounces of Slurpee). How much we are eating goes without saying. But just for the sake of shock value, out in theaters today is the award-winning documentary Super Size Me. In it, director and star Morgan Spurlock embarks on a month-long diet consisting solely of McDonald's food.
THE GROUND RULES were simple: Spurlock would eat only what is available over the counter (including bottled water), would super-size meals only when asked, and would sample every item on the menu at least once. But he also ate three times a day and cut down on his physical activity.
The point? To show just how harmful McDonald's can be to your health. With the aid
of doctors, dieticians, and trainers, Spurlock charts his decline over four weeks, gaining 24 pounds and increasing his cholesterol by 40 percent.
Lawsuits have been filed in recent years by people who blame the fast-food industry for giving them products that weren't the most healthy. One of the plaintiffs suing McDonald's was 5'6" and 270 pounds while another was 4'10" and 170 pounds. Though a judge did not proceed with the case, room was left for future lawsuits if it can be shown that a restaurant like McDonald's clearly and without doubt caused a person's weight-gain and ill health. This seems to have prompted Spurlock to go on the McDonald's diet in an attempt to prove that the Golden Arches, not our decisions--are to blame for our fatness.
Spurlock "absolves us of responsibility for our own fitness," writes James K. Glassman, host of TechCentral Station, who describes Super Size Me as an "outrageously dishonest and dangerous piece of self-promotion." Glassman explains that while an individual can consume between 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day, Spurlock "eats 5,000 to 5,500 calories a day. Nutritionists calculate that a man gains roughly a pound for every 3,500 extra calories, so roughly every three days, Spurlock overeats his way to an extra two pounds or more."
But is it possible to eat at McDonald's within a healthy caloric range? Glassman picks out an Egg McMuffin, orange juice, and coffee for breakfast, a Big Mac, medium fries, Coke, and a hot fudge sundae for lunch, and 10 McNuggets with dipping sauce, milk, and a parfait for dinner. All of which comes to 2,730 calories. "Now double it (two Big Macs, 20 McNuggets) and you get a notion of what Spurlock ate every day," he says.
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