TheBiologySpace.BioBlog

The public is fully aware of the risks. There has been study after study afters study proving the effects of the fatty high salt diet associated with fast food, not to mention good old fashion common sense telling people that it is bad.

Alot of people eat poorly because it is “cheaper” now, eating healthy is “more expensive”, but isn’t true alot of the time, it just seems that way because, when you buy your value meal, it is plastered with all sorts of singels to get you to buy it. When you buy healtheir food it is usually in larger quanitiys, and people don’t think “hey this is going to last me multipul meals”. belive if buying healthy food became the norm, in american familys it would become apparent that is it much cheaper. I watch a British reality show called “You are What You Eat” in which a professional nutritionist comes into peoples lives and has eight weeks to set them stright. Commonly the obese/unhealthy person, uses the reason of cost as a excuse, she sits down a works out the budget for them, and alot of the time, the healthy diet is cheaper.
It is all a matter of adverstising, if carrots came in a package plasterd with “great value” and cucumbers with had signs nameing them as “part of the dollar menu” they might seem alot cheaper.

The results of such studies can be communicated to the public in a way they will understand in just the way that it has been, in a reality show of a man sacrificing his body to prove a point and hopefully save lives in the end. It’s the only way to really get the publics attention. Most people won’t stop their bad habits just because they read an article about a study, that is if they even read an article, but the average obese American watches a lot of TV and the probability of them coming across a show is way higher than them going out of their way to read an article.

There are several ill health effects across socioeconomic lines that fast food diets have on the population. Socially the more people that eat an unhealthy diet out of convenience and cheapness the more obese the population will be. And the more obese the total population will be the more accepted it will become and more people will assume that it is okay to be obese and unhealthy and could stop trying to be healthy altogether.

This will affect the nation’s healthcare system now and in the future in several ways. First of all the more obese the population gets the unhealthier it is and will be seeing their doctors way more frequent. This is bad and good for the health care system. They will stay busy, but too busy. It will be hard to compensate for the massive increase of obesity in the population because a lot more people will need a lot more attention.

In today’s times and socioeconomic atmosphere I believe that it is impossible for people to ever be completely weaned off of fast food, and nor would they want to with how convenient and cheap it is in today’s busy world. Now days one of our nation’s main economic infrastructures is built around food, it would be difficult and unwise to try to do this economically, but not impossible because our economy has usually found a way of filling holes and readjusting itself.

I actually have seen part of this movie and I had to stop watching it because it was so grotesque. He put him self through absolute torture, constantly getting sick and unhealthier as the days went on. If this can’t get peoples attention as to how unhealthy fast food is for you I don’t know if anything can. I recommend everyone watch at least part of it so they can better understand the ill effects of unhealthy food that you consume on your body.

I would have to agree with the judge who had the case thrown out. It ISN’T the governments job to protect us from our own bad choices. As the most obese nation in the world, we have a serious lesson to learn. This all-consuming behavior of convenience is facilitative of excessive laziness and the “give me” attitude we Americans have cultivated over the past century.

I think the real problem isn’t fast food- there’s some good fast food, like a salad (avialable at pretty much every fast food joint). The real problem is bad food choice- eating cheeseburgers dripping with grease and loaded with carbs, and then having a sugery drink on the side. Everything in moderation – greasy foods are okay now and a then, same with carbohydates, but if you have it too much, you’re asking for health problems.
Parents need to simply cook healthy foods more often for their kids, making things like broccolli and steaks.

I see a bleak future in healthcare: if the healthcare system is socialized then the government is now obligated to monitor our health. When do we draw the line? We hate being monitered by the governemnt, yet we’re opening the door for them to take responsibility for everything. If the government pays for healthcare, then they’re going to lower the cost of providing it by forcing fast food restaurants to sell healthy foods so they pay for less health problems. How much farther than that can they get? This would be a serious violation of the free enterprise system, laissez-faire. Too much government interference.

I think that films, such as the one released by Spurlock, was a decent way to communicate the subject at hand. However, public awareness cannot be forced on anyone. It is up to the public to be conscious of the situation and their actions; this parallels the dismissal of the court case claiming that McDonald’s was making two teens obese.

I always thought that that movie was very interesting, but lacking any motives for the American people. Yes, after that film Mcdonalds started to get rid of their trans fats and put “healthier” food items on the menu, but it still didnt change the people that this food was affecting. People need to stop blaming other people for their own faults and their own addictions. Blaming another person for making you fat is obsurred, and I think that we as the human race, need to start looking at ourselves to blame instead of big corporations and the government.

I honestly don’t think people will ever be completely weaned off fast food. Fast food restaurants are taking advantage of the economical status, offering more food for less money. People definitely find the cost and convenience appealing, especially in the fast pace lives most people lead today.

While interesting, this is just grose that someone would actually take on this task. It’s also unfortuate that he has so many health probelms after this experiement. While everyone is always interested in the “what ifs” it is sad that he had to be the subject this experiment.

I think this movie was an effective way to communicate this idea to the public. I know I personally didnt see this movie, but I’ve heard about it from so many different outlets that I feel as oif I have.

The people who are in low economic situations who see fast food as a cheap source of food are the people who might need the healthy food the most. It is sad that in our country the healthy foods are the most expensive because the rich often have the money to join health clubs or participate in club sports providing good nutrients. In contrast, those in low economic situations often work more than one minimum wage job and might use the fast food because of its cheap and convient but do not have the time or the money to work off the extra calories and fat content in these foods. It seems like a never ending cycle and without a drastic change it might never end.

AHHH as a total health freak, i have not eaten at mcdonalds since i was 12. My last ever kids meal too! This guy is crazy insane, and quite the researcher. I wonder how accurate this is, and how much the number of steps affected his weight. Does it work for every human who just happens to be biologically different. So are we all really just “eating good in the neighborhood”

The movie Super Size Me was a blunt and extremely disturbing smack in the face to most people who watched it. However, the one thing that the movie failed to emphasize was ways to fix this. If it taked something this obvious to even get people to realize the problems arising, then it will take an even greater action to get them to fix it. A movie that is based off this one, but describes the opposite, as in how to get healthy easily, would be a good eye-opener and very helpful to the herd-focused society of today.

The movie Super Size Me was a blunt and disturbing smack in the face to most people who watched it. However, what it did not do is put enough emphasis on the healthy opposite. If it took this large of an action to even get the public to notice the arising issues, then can you imagine what it would take to change their everyday eating habits? We need a ‘how to eat right’ version of this movie that describes how easy and cheap it is to make the right choice, because we can’t expect our society of followers to do it on their own.

I think that resorting to fast food is cheaper than some sorts of food, but is actually still expensive compared to what someone can make at home by theirself. It may or may not taste as much as fast food, but homemade food is often really cheap. I think that resorting to fast food is a misconcived cheap source of food unless you are buying from the dollar menu or very little food at all. As people are tempted to buy fast food because of this perception they need to realize and should realize that they need to exercise since it is not healthy.

These studies can be presented to the public just as they were in this blog. Tell it like it is. When knowledge of this pandemic is backed with substantial data how can the public not turn the other cheek to what is being said? When lower socioeconomic classes are shown to consume larger quantities of fast food it can only be seen that they will have worse health over time. As the consumption of fast food increases then health care will be facing a larger amount of weight and metabolic based issues in the future just as they are now. Fast food in small quantities is not bad but when its made a daily ritual to consume even one fast food meal day then it becomes hazardous. The economy may suffer with decreased consumption of the food but isn’t that a sacrifice necessary for the health of the world?

This movie was a good way to communicate the effects of fast food. Still though, I think a more conservative approach should be taken to show the effects of it. The changes in Spurlock were very dramatic and anyone could foresee the changes. If people just ate one meal a day, what would the consequences be? I think its a good thing that fast food chains are becoming more health oriented. Printing healthfacts on their containers try and help the consumer make wiser decisions.

I think it is important to realize that any food that is eaten too much is not healthy. Just eating one type of food such as just vegetables or fast food deprives someone of all the proteins and minerals that people need to function properly. You can not get everything you need from one food so you need variety. Also “everything in moderation” is a good rule to eating. You can eat bad food like desserts or fast food as long as it is not the only thing you eat. Lastly, simply people need to burn off more or almost as many calories as they intake in order avoid gaining a lot of wieght and that is hard to do when eating fast foods since they contain so many calories. You can really eat whatever you want and not gain or lose weight depending on the amount of calories you burn, so fast food is not the sole reason why many these two kids who sued McDonalds gained weight.

I agree with the judge of this case in that the kids should not be able to blame McDonalds for their obesity since tehy control what they eat. I think that it is wrong to blame restaraunts and to regulate restaurants foods (Calories and Trans Fat), for obesity and unhealthy foods. People are responsible for what they eat and if they want to eat unhealthy food then they should be able to, but they must accept the consequences too. They should not be able to blame the restaurant and in turn the governent shouldnt be able to regulate restaruants such as the removal of Supersize meals. I love fast food and fried food and the government should not restrict the amount of this food i can order or if it is even made in order to battle obesity. However, I do think that people should be allowed to know how the food is prepared and how many calories it contains in order to excercise properly.

Publish these results in a written report only get to a small audience. Pictures or videos would be a better way to get the messages out to more people. Just like the old Chinese proverb says, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. The data from these studies can be absorbed easily by people of all ages using images.

I do not think that people would completely stop eating fast food even if it has such a poor effect on peoples’ health. Eating at fast food restaurants are cheaper compare to other types of restaurants. So when people want to eat out and don’t want to spend a lot of money they would naturally choose to eat at fast food restaurants. Also a lot of people are not aware of these studies because not as much money is spent on getting these results to the public then the fast food restaurants spend on advertising their foods.

I’m going to be the Devil’s Advocate here, only because it is needed. Not that I don’t agree with some of it, but all points need to be considered.

First, what would happen if people were ever able to completely wean themselves off fast food (let’s just say this is possible, shall we)? Unemployment would skyrocket because of the severe loss of jobs from fast food places going under and having to close. I work at McDonald’s (yes, go ahead and laugh at the irony), and if it went under, I would have to look for another job, just like thousands of other people. Things would escalate higher and higher, causing more of an economic panic and crisis. Still, this is just what would happen if all the fast food restaurants closed relatively quickly.

Second, people will not listen to what they don’t want to hear. For example, hotdogs. We all know (or we think we know) what all a hotdog is made of. But many people still eat them, either refusing to believe in what others say is true, or ignoring the facts and eating them anyway. It’s the same with fast food. We all know, thanks to “Supersize Me”, what that food can do to us. Still, knowing that, many people choose to eat at places like McDonald’s and Burger King and Sonic every day. It’s more conveniant, quicker, easier, all that jazz. And, right now, it is cheaper. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it’s delicious? Yeah, that is a HUGE factor. Salt and fat make people happy and satisfied.

So the question here is this: how much self-control does this nation have? Also, how far are people willing to go to offset the fat and salt they digest at fast foo restaurants? Do they know they need to walk more? Possibly. Do they want to? No. So which will win out, in the end – the need or the want?

I also agree with the judge in that the two young teens both had choices that they could have made. The consequences that they had faced was because they had made poor decisions.

I believe that too the people who have seen this video it opened their eyes to what it is that they really consume. However it has not stopped Americans from eating fast food. It has made us more aware of what we have in our daily habits and helped us try to be more healthy

It is obvious that eating McDonald’s array of food for every meal is not healthy. Moreover, eating any type of fast food consistently is terrible for one’s health. Let’s not just target McDonalds. Eating Dunking Donuts for breakfast, Wendy’s for lunch, and Taco Bell for dinner is not going to supplement your daily nutritional needs. I agree with the judge’s decision and you cannot blame someone else for your lack of self control.

Well. One has to realize that fast food just tastes really good. An added bonus is that it is affordable. The low price creates a high demand for consumers. For the most part, people are not thinking about getting two more vegetables or another order of fruits to fulfill their nutritional requirements. They just want delicious food, and they want the food now. Foods deemed as healthy such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains cost significantly more then their unhealthy counterparts. People are just buying items that they can afford. I am sure that if the price of fast food chains raised their prices, then people would definitely stop buying them. However, government would never take an initiative to this because that would be a big drain in the economy and future candidates would lose possible money donations from such organizations that they could use in their elections.

This experiment did establish a valid independent and dependent variable. However, this is on the extreme end of the spectrum. Most Americans do not eat fast food for every single meal. I thought the main point of this experiment was to teach people to take precaution when consuming fast food and be aware about the possible health risks of biting into a cheeseburger.

This article reminds me of the boondocks (the show) where the grandpa makes his own restaraunt with insanely fatty foods which gives the “itis” effect, also known as the food coma. In the show the people love his food so much that they become insanely obese and can’t function as well in society from the foods tastey effects. the same way, the characters tried to sue the grandpa but the restaraunt did not force the people to eat the food, so legal actions could not be taken. In the same way its stupid to believe that consumers can blame restaraunts that they pay for be the ultimate source of their obesity. habits mixed with genetics and the close occurance of a disease, are the only valid reasons for true obesity.

The best way to raise awareness of an issue is to state the deaths, especially in children. although this sounds horrible, the acts of helping orphans and the awareness of AIDS only increased since televised reports of CHILDREN were seen. you know what im talking about, they play the slow sad music and show the faces of starving people (children) and state their claim of needing money to save these children. the same way, the awareness for obesity can only be absolved by broadcasting deaths from obesity from a regularly controlled diet, unlike the overeating from the females.

This is a subject that angers me greatly. As a country of free people, we are able to make our own decisions. The girls who sued McDonald’s for “making them fat” have some nerve to suggest that McDonald’s force fed them to the point that they became obese with subsequent health issues. While I acknowledge that McDonald’s is delicious (nom, nom, nom!), eating it more than once a week is ridiculous. It is impossible to expect anything other than obesity when you consume that much McDonald’s.

I have seen the movie- really really good, and I remember Morgan actually becoming slightly addicted to the fast food. He would get headaches and when he ate at McDonald’s he would immediately feel better.
If Americans continue to gorge themselves at McDonald’s, then in 20 years the strain on our health care system will be devestating. If eating constantly at McDonald’s leads to your body becoming resistant to insulin, then in time, everyone in the country who lives at McDonald’s will be resistant to insulin and the cost of insulin will shoot through the roof. This will place a huge strain on our economy and lead to even more issues for the country besides the massive population of unhealthy people.

I do not understand how parents can feed fast food to their children every day or even a few times a week. I remember when I was little we got to go once a month and mostly we went to play on the playground there. The results of these studies needs to be published on the news and possibly even in places where the people consuming these foods would find them.

People have been concerned about the rise of diabetes and obesity for a while lately. However, they obviously arn’t that concerned because they havn’t stopped eating fast food. It would make sense to me that if I knew what was causing this problem I would stop putting this in my body. Maybe I just think differently than others but that is something that makes no sense to me.

This just goes to show how dependent we are to fast food in the U.S. The rest of the world doesn’t seem to have a problem with fast food. These experiment with fast food just go to show that it can also be just as deadly. I think that the best rule when eating no matter what it is is everything in moderation nothing in excess.

The cost of marketing is ridiculous and only puts the economy in a worse spot, than it already is, making prices of everything go up. Fast food is one of the cheapest food sources that you can find, but also the most unhealthy, all the fried and greasy food just spells death. Fast food has also taken childhood obesity to the max, you’ll see 12-13 year old kids that weigh up to 250, just ridiculous how much marketing can lead you in the wrong direction.

I think that the best way to get this point across is to go around the U.S. and randomly choose healthy looking individuals to become the next experimental group and show constant footage of them on the 30 day “super size me” diet. Hopefully the population will soon realize that fast food is dangerous and deadly. I don’t believe that the health care system needs to change. No, I don’t believe that people will completely stop eating fast food, but I think that with a lot of effort that it can be reduced. I don’t think this would be economically smart either because we will always need something that can stimulate the economy.

I agree with Jennifer that this is a horrible task to be the subject of the experiment. It is bad that he had to sacrifice his own health in order to prove the point that eating fast food has ill health effects.

Yeah same as austin i dislike mcdonalds.
I actually became sick.
i was coughing.
sneezing occurred.
temperatures in my body rose.
tubular shaped objects were placed beneath my tongue.
it wasn’t good.
bad indeed.
opposite of good yes.

Anyways…

The sad thing is that people need these studies to prove something that they already know… hopefully.
Everyone that i have spoken to says that they know fast food is bad for them. But most just don’t care. Including me.
But i am a twig, figuratively speaking.
i have abs of steel but this is besides the point!

Actually in health class we watched this a few years ago. Great movie. And this guy is a freak indeed.

But ultimately it lies in the hands of the parents to not allow their kids to eat at such fast food restaurants. Childhood obesity is a problem and i believe the only way it can be prevented is by the parents setting boundaries. It comes into the hands of the individuals as well. Simply stop going out to fast food restaurants and take care of yourself with exercise and other dietary plans.

But, sooner or later, these studies conducted by various organizations including Linko – ping pong- oh university, whatever it’s called, will eventually sink into the minds of the public… hopefully.

Since plenty of Americans are couch potatoes, it is probably easiest to communicate this information through television or movies such as Super Size Me. I have never seen this movie but it seems interesting. I think it would be nearly impossible to wean people off of fast food. It is way too popular and easy to obtain. The health system in the future will have to address obesity as overweight children become older and develop lots of health problems.

I think it would be interesting to perform another experiment where the researchers could compare different fast food restaurants. Then maybe they could determine which restaurants have the biggest impact on the levels of insulin and consequently diabetes.

People can make their own choices on the food they eat. Just because you walk into a McDonald’s doesn’t mean you HAVE to order a Big Mac combo and supersize it. You can order a smaller portion and still feel satisfied after eating. The problem is eating McDonald’s everyday, and choosing foods with a lot of fat, a lot of sodium, and a lot of calories at one meal. Eating some foods may add up to 1,200 calories, and over half of the recommended daily value for fat and sodium. Eating this at one meal can be detrimental to one’s health. The more salt and fat one accumulates, the more fat is stored and the more water one needs to restore the water being replaced by salt. Therefore, people DO have a choice when at a restaurant and the restaurant is not forcing you to pick “bad health” foods.

That’s the kicker: advertising to the kids. This is what corporations are thinking: if they advertise to the kids and the kids think of the food as being good, then when deciding foods when they’re older, the grownup kids will be more likely to choose the fast food places, due to the good feeling they had when they were kids. I agree that evolution is working against us as the more fast paced we get, the more fast food we are to consume as we won’t have “time” for sit down restaruants. Coupled with the recession, and with fast food being so cheap, it makes sense that more people are turning to fast food for a meal. This could also be linked to a psychology concept. People are less likely to change habits, which makes them reluctant to move away from fast food restaurants even after a recession as bad as the one we are experiencing now.

I feel really sorry for that kid because his parents continue to fatten him up like in Hansel and Gretel. And as you can see, his little brother to the left of him is starting to work his way up on the scales.

The little boy got this way because his parents were too lazy to fix him a sandwich. This is completely off topic, but I wonder what that kids pointing at. Mabye it’s the next thing on the menu that he desires.

Type-2 diabetes used to only appear in adults but increasingly, teenagers and even younger children are beginning to show signs of it. The thing is that diabetes is a far more dangerous disease than many people credit, causing blindness and circulatory problems which can lead to limb amputation. And the worst part of it is that it is largely self inflicted. But diabetes is not the only problem you might get as a result of poor choices at fast food chains. The saturated fat content of a fast food diet will also coat the arteries with plaque, reducing your lifespan and further increasing your risk of heart attack and even stroke.

I think the movie that Morgan Spurlock made was a perfect way to communicate to the public some of the really horrible effects of eating junk food from fast food restaurants. Some of the ill health effects across socioeconomic lines, which fast food diets have on the population, include hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke – which all reduce our life spans. As said before I do not think we, as part of a hectic society, would be able to wean off of fast food and economically it definitely would not be a smart move.

This documentary did not reach the audience it was intended for. Those who gain tons of weight from fast food are not the ones that watched. Yes, it did raise some awareness, but all in all, fast food is too convenient and cheap to give up. Therefore, the intended affects of this documentary never took with the obese population.

I also agree with the fact that you can’t just eat at one fast food restaurant. You will not survive! To maintain a bodily balance, one needs an arrangement of foods for optimal nutrition such as vegetables and fruits (even if you aren’t getting the recommended amounts). Whole meals cannot just be made of carbs.

I agree with Tiffany in that this documentary went a little too extreme. It is not accurate to say that americans have 3 fast food meals every day. It may be close but not that extreme. However, it did raise awareness like it was intended to and therefore alerted some of the population to the health risks of fast food.

Honestly the best way to communicate to parents and children nowadays is through internet articles and tv. Morgan’s movie was definetely the most effective way to spread his message. Fast food diets have a huge effect on the nations population. I mean sadly more than like half of the children are obsese which is ridiculous and sad because growing up as a child you would hardly see any obese children but now if you walk around an elementary school the effect of fast food is evident.

People can never be parted with fast food. At least i know i couldnt. Especially with our crazy economic crisis, many parents have to work longer hours and work more jobs therefore they dont have as much time to spend cooking meals which is sad but true. I know with my parents both working hard in their jobs, fast food is the easiest way to go for a quick meal and im not going to lie but we have some type of fast food at least once a week. Economically this would not be a smart move because it would put a lot of people out of a job. With the economic crisis as bad as it is, it would put a lot of people out of work. Especially a lot of teenagers who work at fast food places.

Sueing mcdonalds for their own weight gain is pretty ridiculous. why are they blaming mcdonalds for their poor choices? its pretty crazy. The judges decision seems legit. This movie although it raised awareness didnt really change my food choices. I still eat and everybody i know still eats fast food all the time and it probably didnt make a drastic change in our society. But it’s really sad that so many young children are becoming obsese so fast. Fast food is okay occassionally but comsuming vast amounts like these children are sure to have eaten is the parents fault. I know some parents want to give whatever they want to their children to make them happy but in this case they need to set some boundaries and not let eat so much fast food no matter how much they cry and beg. I think that’s a major problem. I know that if my sister cries and begs enough for mcdonalds my parents will usually give in and let her have it. If she was like that everyday which im sure many children are the results would be disasterous.

I loved Super Size Me cause it just showed how the food from McDonalds was bad for you…..after eating the food for several weeks, Morgan was in his car eating his McDonalds when he just threw it up because his body was rejecting the food cause it was high in cholesterol and fat. I think it is completely idiotic for suing someone because they say that person made them obese. Everyone has a particular choice in what they eat and how much they eat, so those two obese people should blame themselves for their bad nutritional choices.

After like 15 days, he couldn’t even stand the smell of the McDonalds food. After eating dinner one time with like a Big Mac, I think one of the doctors said that needed to run 10 MILES in order to burn off the calories he had for dinner….now that is crazy! It just goes to prove that you are what you eat!

It would be great to see different versions of his experiment, but I personally wouldn’t risk my own health for this experiment. I’m more surprised with the fatty liver damage….it was “equivalent to that of an alcoholic”…..that is amazing. Now it is true, that most people don’t eat McDonald meals 3 times a day for 30 days straight, but these fried and high fatty foods are clearly punishing to the well being of any individual.

I think people know what the outcome of their decisions are, but they just want the immediate gratification of the food. It is not surprising that the fried and high fatty foods of McDonalds increase the chance of Type II diabetes and insulin resistance. These fast food restaurants typically have foods with high preservatives, fat, cholesterol, sugar, and etc. All these will surely increase the chance of not only diabetes, but other health problems. Kids shouldn’t blatantly accept whatever is in the media as good, but use their minds to see what is actually beneficial to themselves

Some of the McDonald’s restaurants he went to were bad, for such reasons as at least one didn’t have a nutritional information thing avaliable (I think that one did, and gave him their only copy, but I’m not 100% sure on that one), and one of his ice creams had a long, disgusting hair in it.

I think that it would be beneficial for the fast food places to try and make their food healthier, but still tasty; aside from the obvious health benefits, whoever is first to do this could advertise that they were the “first fast food place to become healthy”, or something, and the rest could just have a “now with healthier food” sign in the window, or something, as this would likely drive up business, and drive down obesity.

A way to show them in a way they would understand is show a person eating McDonalds with an insulin pump on their hip with insulin in caps on the device and them speaking about it. Perhaps fast food surrounding dead people would get the idea across faster though. Fast food is causing many to develop obesity as well as many other health problems due to it being the food of choice for children and the coveted dollar menu making it cheap to obtain. Its already effected the health system by sending many to the hospital who can’t afford to pay for it and they will likely shout to the skys “free health care.” Its likely ever gonna happen that people can be weaned fully off of fast food unless they have a very strong mind, but the biggest step is parents not allowing their children to have it which will condition them to eat healthier food. It would likely devestate the economy.

With the economy the way it is, I don’t blame parents for looking at fast food as a cheap, convinient way to feed themselves and their families. However, in the long run of things, this unhealthy eating could possibly come back adn cost more to the family, in things such as medical bills for diabetes that could develop as a result of eating the fast food.

Unfortunately I don’t believe that people could ever be completely weaned off of fast food, because of its price and convinience. However, to wean people off of fast food would be a smart move economically. Apparently, the more money that is spent, the more the economy is stimulated, and if healthy food is a tad more expensive than fast food, then spending more on healthy food could not only be beneficial to your health but also to the economy!

Huh? Two teens tried to sue McDonalds for making them obese? I’m sorry but that right there sounds like some bs excuse for their obesity. But back to the topic, I remember watching Super Size Me and I could not believe the ill effects it can do to a person. In just one month, Morgan Spurlock almost died just by eating food we sometimes eat everyday…

If the movie Super Size Me doesn’t make people aware of these studies, then they are dumb. If people continue to eat then they will no longer be able to work and the economy will become worse. For people who plan on becoming doctors, they’re salary is going to go way up because of all the treatment the public requires. And no, people will never be completely weaned off fast food which is for the best. If this were to happen, many people would lose their jobs and there aren’t many other jobs to go to.

Wow I cant believe what he had to eat. Ugh that’s disgusting! No offense to the McDonald lovers but I can not eat that stuff for a day. I’m surprised he didn’t get sick after a couple days…

Well it looks like my previous blog posts about spermy and eggy were not accepted… i shall avenge their deaths.

I think that the only way people will come to realize the effects of fast food diets is to simply put out more commercials of the sicknesses and even deaths which come from fast food. But of course that will never happen. It’s basically just like cigarettes and alcohol. Whatever kills us, we love!

Now will we ever wean off fast food…
not possible. When i left one of my blog posts about this subject that wasn’t accepted for some reason, i went to mcdonalds for dinner.
i was going to go to panda express but the big mac actually called me and wanted me to eat it.

Unfortunately this is just the way it’s going to have to be. Economically we need fast food.

Dang, the one thing that would make my life more miserable – insulin resistance. Although I only get to eat out once or twice a week, I am extremely prone to developing resistance, or so my doctor said. I only eat out when cooking or preparations are inconvenient, like when I am on the road. Would I be likely to increase resistance to insulin?

What kind of a person would put himself “in the line of fire” so to speak, of a potential self induced heart attack? I guess anything for the sake of science right?

It saddens me that such a self-inflicted ‘disease’ should recieve so much attention and money when there are dozens of other real ailments that need treatment. It’s like the talks of there being such a thing as computer and video addictions or syndromes or whatever- ridiculous.

I think it began as an experiment and ended as a more of making a statement…enlightening america concerning our own personal bad health choices that are so EASY to make because the food is fast and accessible. This small tidbit about the cholesterol, Blood glucose levels and triglycerides brings another dimension to this experiment. Instead of it being a one dimensioned …. how much weight will i gain from this….Spurlock made it more about your body’s actual health. (note : This may be a shocking revelation to most americans…..since many associate “skinny “with healthy…though this is not always the case.) Instead of confining the experiment to external examination, he has expanded it to include the internal stability or instability that therefore may occur.

I agree with Jeffrey that one of the most surprising facts in the article concerned the liver damage, though overall this makes sense. Your liver, among many other functions, filters out toxins, wastes, basically crap that you put in your body [or is put there] . While breaking down fats it also detoxifies the body; so the fact that this guy basically had his liver turned to fatty mush from eating all of the greasy junk food he did not only proves, of course that fast food is extremely unhealthy and “fatty” but also that when we consume it, we are essentially inserting waste into our bodies. When our livers have had it, there is no way to fix it. No compensation for the liver. It’s a pretty darn important organ, though in situations such as this it seems to be ignored. Instead of worry about our livers, we worry about our weight. Though when we continue to consume greasy garbage, our livers ability to emulsify lipids eventually diminished and in the end, we screw ourselves.

Yes, I believe fast food should be here, its been part of America’s culture for some quite time now, and them trying to make it nutritiously good for you (well some are actually) kinda takes away the concept of “fast food”. It stimulated the economy, it makes jobs, it gives you an opportunity to pig out and enjoy that one day of satisfaction. However, I’m all out in supporting that the public has to be more aware of their choices in their lifestyle and show them that yeah, by doing some of these habits, of course there are consequences.

I don’t think there is any real “healthy” fast food restaurant. Even subway was found to have high amounts of sodium in their meats, which can cause high blood pressure. But one burger every now and then is alright. Moderation…that’s the key to everything.

The movie was an extreme scenario of how fast food affects our body. Yes, fast food isn’t healthy, but who eats McDonald’s three times per day for thirty days. That’s a little unrealistic. Eating three meals per day of homeade cooking can be just as bad. A lot of ethinicities like hispanics and italians use a ton of butter and oil in their cooking, which can cause a lot of the same effects.

At a lot of fast food restaurants there are healthier choices available. Like at McDonald’s, order sliced apples instead of fries. The problem is that people ARE aware of the unhealthiness of fast food, yet continue to consume it and make poor choices. Until there is a will to change bad eating habits, the promlem of obesity will continue to increase.

Oh man…. I won’t even hesitate to admit it, I LOVE MCDONALD’S! Everyone has different tastes…don’t judge. The truth is, anyone with a common sense would know eating fast food every day of your life or even multiple times in one week will have side effects. It’s kind of like drinking a soft drink at every meal. I hate soft drinks and I only drink water or V8 fusion. Now let’s talk moderation and exercise. The people eating fast food for every meal every day, most likely are not prone to a regular work out schedule either. One, the food they are consuming has no tangible energy to show after the sugar rush. I think that people need to think with their minds and not their stomachs, but don’t be absolutely against letting out some slack for the french fries… that’s good stuff.

I also agree that the choice is ultimately with us, if we choose to eat the food of course it will end in cases like this. We all just need a reality check on what the food actually does to us, there is no way it is their fault because it’s not their mission to make us gain weight (some people don’t)

I am not sure i could ever put myself in his place for a study, it is very dangerous even if it doesnt seem it. Crazy the lengths people go for science.

It was mentioned above that we could try comparing resteraunts, but isnt it already proven that mcdonalds has the biggest impact.I am not sure if this study is that accurate, the weight and metabolism of these different people is different. They also eat so differently that it would be hard to have the best results.

Victoria makes a good point in the fact that people usually choose to ignore the healthy choices at a fast food restaurant and revert back to burgers and fries. The public needs to be shown extreme examples and studies, maybe even force the news to cover health issues more in effort to make a greater difference. I think that every class has fast food, so that really doesn’t matter. People will never be taken off fast food because they will continue to ignore the horrid effects.

I agree with Victoria that at all these places we are given a choice of more healthy items, but we also could choose to go some place else. It is the constant need for the salt to add taste, the prices, and quick service that attract the costumers. We just dont realize the long-term impact on our bodies and what we could potentially be setting ourselves up.

it is amazing how incredibly greedy people can be. of course the judge will rule in favor of the defendant in this case because it’s so astonishingly gluttonous of a notion… this really makes me angry. and you don’t want to make me angry… HULK SMASH!

I got to admit that i got that mcnuggets lovin..those things are a bite of heaven. To be honest people just dont care what fast food does to them, they know all the effects and simply choose to ignore them and divulge in some greasy fast food.

I think its funny that unhealhty foods are so cheap and accessable, this compared to unhealthy foods that don’t carry much appeal. The fast food chains to there part and put the healthy foods on the menue, but they know good ‘n well no one came by for a salad. They proceed to advertise with that ideology

In all reality i think it is impossible for America to mend its ways when it comes to fast food. Fast Food has become a staple in our diets, and the fact that families with less income are target customers for fast food is troubling. I understand that fast food is essential to our economy, so i guess we must make the choice, our health or a healthy economy.

Holy crap those kids are huge!! The one on the right looks like he’s in a fat suit with all the wrinkles he has. I think that the court made the right decision because the people that are suing are choosing to eat the food in mass quantities which most people know can be harmful to your health in the long run. It’s kind of a joke that they are suing a place for their own doing.

I would hope that these people were compensated generously because I don’t think that I would be one that would have a hard time not taking more than 5000 steps a day. Plus on top of that eating fast food as often as I would have to if I was in this situation would tend to get old after a while if you know what I mean. Too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing.

I agree with Victoria. This experiment was extremely exaggerated and the results were more than obvious. Everyone knows that if you eat fast food constantly for an extended period of time, its going to harm you.

If it took a production this huge and mind-boggling to get people to understand that fast-food is harmful, I can’t imagine what kind of show it will take to get people to change their ways. Maybe a healthy version of “Super Size Me” like “Make Me Healthy” or something. I just don’t know how this country will ever be totally rid of the fast food community. It is too quick, handy, and tasty to ever run off every single fat guy.

When I watched this documentary and heard that people sued McDonald’s because they became “obese” I laughed. I don’t mean it in a mean way, but come on people, you chose to eat there. You can’t sue someone for running a business, even if it isn’t healthy you pulled your wallet out, and it was your voice that ordered the food. People should just start eating at home and walking. They will see results trust me.

I agree with the judges decision. Blaming the fast food restuarant for your own bad choices is ridiculous. Although it is partially the restaurants fault for not taking responsibilty for the nation’s obesity problem, the customers are the ones who should be blamed. I mean there are healthy alternatives… Subway, a salad etc.

If people are truly serious about their health, they can be weaned off fast food. With the economy the way it is , there have been many websites and books and tools that have been created to save people money, and it includes stuff like how to shop at the grocery store! So in a sense you can spend about the same amount of money at McDonalds as you could at the store and make a meal loads healthier. You don’t even have to go that far. Go to Barnes and Noble and find one of those books that tell you how many calories are in things and do your math for calorie counting and stuff or watch the news! These days there are so many options, money is an excuse for them to eat poorly, and people won’t change until obesity happens to them, and they realize that they were crazy eating all that crap everyday day. I think that there should be more advertising on the family meal, the economy would probably suffer but we can handle that when it happens.

Why would you do this to yourself? I think scientists should just feed McDonalds to mice. It wouldn’t really be helpful in convincing people to not eat fast food, but oh well.

While fast food is generally more convenient and cheaper, the alternatives such as fresh produce and healthy food items should not be forgotten. If money is the issue, think of all of the money you would be spending on medical bills and doctors visits. Fast food may seem economical now but if you take the future effects to heart then you will realize you will have to sacrifice much more than just money.

I think that the judge was completely correct in his decision to throw out the case. The only people the teens have to blame is themselves. No one can force them to eat or not eat. The law least of all.

This guy is brave. I agree with Devon though. The only way to really make people listen is to do something this extreme. If he was more conservative in his approach to this experiment then he probably wouldn’t have gotten the shocking results he got and wouldn’t have sparked this very conversation we’re all having right now. Honestly I’m surprised the guy’s still alive.

America loves to eat, eat cheaply, and eat quickly. We live in an increasingly fast past society where working hard no longer puts good food on the table. Instead overtime and odd jobs can only provide another safe month and cheap food. This problem cannot be so easily fixed because for some people this is not a choice, they probably know its bad but they cant do a thing about it. Its either eat this or spend the extra money which doesn’t exist. It needs to stop but its unlikely that it will. Food is a MAJOR money maker, the more costumers the more money, the big guys are not about to slow down the profit, which is a shame because they’re really the only people that can do anything about it.

Money may be tight and fast-food may be convenient but there are more important things than savinga few cents on a meal. Advertising absolutely has an affect on how much we eat at these fast food places. If we saw as many commercials on the effects fast food has as we did on how much fun it is to eat, these places would be out of business.

As far as communicating the results of studies done, such as the one at Linkoping University, obviously the fast food places are not willing to publicize it. If you ask me it is up to the government. If the health hazards of eating an excessive amount of fast food are possibly life-threatening then maybe we should consider a warning label like those found on cigarettes. Im laughing a little bit at the thought of seeing a skull and crossbones on my Wendy’s wrapper, but hey, its something to consider.

My mother, and the majority of women on that side of the family, have obesity and diabetes. I have had insulin resistance, but losing a significant amount of weight helped a lot. Because of this, I don’t like to eat fast food. It makes me feel ill afterwards. However, I know a couple of people who rarely ever eat anything that doesn’t come from either a fast food joint, or their microwave. If they go too long without eating junk food, they go into withdrawl and begin to feel sick. Strangely, they are not obese. I really wonder how that works.

Spurlock’s documentary approach is extremely shocking. He had a pretty accurate idea of what would happen to his health before starting the experiment and yet he continued to play his role as the lab rat. Crazy or what? I agree with Katie, I would never risk my health…EVEN for the sake of science.

I think that fast food companies should consider healthier menus. Because of our lifestyle, most Americans depend on quick, cheap food every once in a while. Eliminating
fast food completely is not feasible. One way that these companies could change their menu is using alternative cooking methods to frying, such as baking or steaming.

finally a judge who realizes its the people’s fault for becoming obese, not mcdonalds. Like if they didn’t want to gain weight they could get a salad, not a big mac. it’s like the people who blamed the cookie monster for their kids becoming fat. people need to start blaming themselves not everyone else.

its sad how much money companies spend on marketing a product that hurts the health of americans everywhere. i just hope that companies wont start trying to create some minor insulin shot so fast food appears not as unhealthy.

Documentaries like Super Size Me certainly point out to the public the negative effects of over feeding on fast food and if people still continue to eat unhealthily, then they are to blame. As long as people continue to eat unhealthy, their bodies will pay the toll, allowing for plenty of jobs to open up in the healthcare system.

I don’t think it is possible for fast food to ever dissapear in America. Even though many of us were shown the “Super Size Me” movie in one of our classes, most of us still go out and eat McDonalds. In fact, one of my friends told me that watching that movie just made him want to go and get some french fries. The smell and taste of that food is irresistable, and no matter how much anti-adverstizing is done, people will still eat it.

Its pretty much just like the truth commercials against smoking. They are everywhere, and yet regular smokers still smoke, and new smokers are still getting hooked.
But here is how I see it.
There are a million ways to die, and almost anything in the world could potentionally be bad for the health of the body. Yes its bad to eat McDonalds everyday three times a day, but the average person doesn’t do that. Just like its bad to go to the tanning bed twice a day for a year straight, but the average person doesn’t do that either.
Everytime you get in your car to drive could be your last. Everytime you eat a steak you could get serious food poisoning. Everytime you take a walk you could get mugged and shot. So when I think about things in that percpective, little things like eating fast food because its cheaper really and it tastes delicious don’t really seem like a big deal to me.
The key is moderation I guess.

I like how the two teens wanted to sue McDonalds. That is probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. If they would have won that case, I don’t know what I would have done. It would have been something bad though. Dang kids and their video games.

The results of these studies should be published in everyday literature such newspapers, magazines, possibly even tabloids.
And not only that but the media because it would target the audience that regularly eats fast food. Instead of lofty suggestions of getting off the couch, they should sum up the risks of an unhealthy life style and some solutions to that problem. Although fastfood may be cheap and quick, there are several ways to avoid it such as eating in more. A healthy salad is filling and inexpensive. The nation’s healthcare and insurance will sky-rocket due to the severe risk of an obese patient acquiring heart disease.
Of course people can be completely weaned off fast food and would be smart for the economy because if they were healthier, they would save money in medical bills.

I believe that the public is generally very well aware of the negative consequences and side effects associated with the consumption of fast food. However, people tend to take risks in regard to their health for the sake of convenience. I don’t believe that this will ever change, as long as fast food is easily available and inexpensive. Americans’ lives are so fast paced that convenience is a big determining factor in most decisions.

I think that Americans can be ‘weaned off of fast food’. However, this must occur when parents teach their children what to eat and what not to eat. With so many unhealthy foods readily available to children and adults alike, it is often difficult to opt for the healthy, bland food over the tasty, sugary concoction. I believe that it is the responsibility of the parent to educate their child on health matters, since habit alone can be responsible for the consumption of fast food.

Fast food is very addicting because it is always available and quick to grab on the go during people’s busy schedules. The public is very interested in the effects of fast food studies and their health effects. I think by posting news articles, creating facebook awareness groups and showing news stories, the public could be well informed.

I don’t think people will ever be weaned off fast food because it is so convenient and fast. Without fast food a lot of people across America would be unemployed and the economy would go down. Fast food may be bad for people’s health, but it is vital to a healthy economy.

Holy cow!!
That’s ridiculous…
I don’t eat McDonald’s but…it’s cause I got food poisoning there once…Haha, I’m glad I don’t…considering all of these ridiculous side affects…I think since that movie they have taken some extra steps to remove trans fat and such….

What makes fast food so much worse than any other food??
Is it the way they process it or the deep frying or what…..
I’ve never really gotten that…

Fast food restaurants should definitely consider offering healthier menus. They practically define America, so it would be really difficult to urge people to completely wean off of fast food. The only other option is to serve a salad instead of french fries.

Yes I must agree with the judge and say that the teens have no one to blame but themselves.They are ultimately the ones who decide what to eat. They could have definitely made healthier choices. But where are their parents in all of this? Do they not realize that their children’s lives may be at stake here?

Wow I respect this courageous man for what he has done. He seems to have opened up a lot of people’s eyes. It seems that a lot more people realize the serious health effects that come with constant fast food dining.

I recall that during his expeirment he met a guy that ate like 3 bigmacs a day. The thing about the guy was that he was perfectly healthy and had a decent celestoral and was pretty skinny. Oddly though, he said he never ate fries and rarely had soda with his bigmacs, maybe too much blame is going on the main corses and not enough on the sugary and fatty extras.

I foresee in the future that the same advertising bans that are put on tobacoo products will be put on fast food. No cartoony mascots, no adversising in magasines and so forth. I think it will really help keep kids from whinning to their poor stressed out moms for french fries and slushies if this happens.