Film Analysis: Super Size Me

I. Summarize the documentary “Super Size Me”. Give a detailed description of the coverage of the documentary, and state briefly the “take-away” message it gives. Do not cut & paste from reviews of the movie from any source. This must be in your own words. The film Super Size Me follows a New York man named Morgan Spurlock as he undertakes a 30-day journey to prove the effects of eating fast food three times per day. This experiment has a couple of rules: Spurlock can only eat and drink things that are on the McDonald’s menu, he must eat 3 meals a day, he must consume everything on the menu at least once, and if he’s asked Spurlock must super size his meal. Before commencing his journey, Spurlock goes to see doctors to ensure he is healthy enough

Based on the documentary and your own research using sources listed above, what health problems are linked to obesity? Based on the documentary, some of the health problems liked with obesity include: hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, endometrial cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, dyslipidemia, steatohepatitis, insulin resistance, asthma, hyperuricemia, reproductive hormone abnormalities, polycystic ovarian syndrome, impaired fertility, and adult onset diabetes. Aside from the risks presented in the documentary, some other risks include: gallstones, gout, and breathing problems.

X. Based on the documentary, how are mcnuggets made? According to the documentary, chicken nuggets used to come from old chickens that couldn’t lay eggs anymore. However, now they use chickens with abnormally large breasts. They get these chickens, strip them from their bones and create something of a chicken mash. They then get this mash, combine it with stabalizers and preservatives, press it into familiar shapes, bread it, deep fry it, freeze it, and ship it to all the McDonald’s

In your own opinion, do you think children in middle school are able to 
make the “right choices” with regard to foods? In other words, do you think children can discipline themselves to make healthy food choices and eat correct portions, while at school when they are served things like fries, mashed potatoes, soda, cookies, etc.... In my opinion, middle school children are old enough to know what food choices are better (milk instead of soda and fruits instead of chips), however, they are still young and I don’t think they can make these decisions on their own. I don’t think you can expect a child to control their urges as much as you would an adult. Children in middle school also feel a lot of peer pressure; therefore if their friends are eating junk food and fast food, they’re going to want to eat it as well. I don’t think children can really discipline themselves with their food