Super Size Me documents filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's 30-day experiment where he ate only food from McDonald's restaurants three times a day. Over the month, Spurlock gained 24.5 pounds and his cholesterol levels increased. The film highlights America's obesity epidemic and critiques the fast food industry for encouraging unhealthy eating habits. It calls on fast food chains to offer healthier options and limit advertising targeting children to help address obesity rates in the U.S.

1. Super Size Me

2. Super Size Me
Identify the Issue
The Facts
Conclusion
References

3. Identify the Issue
What is the Content What is the Extent Quiz Yourself
of the Problem of the Problem

4. What is the content of the
problem
 The content of the problem is the national epidemic of obesity. This is a global
epidemic but is highly affecting Americans. It is up to the fast food industry and
“Corporate America” to give us healthier options and to cut back on encouraging and
making quick, unhealthy food appealing. Considering that Americans eat out at fast
food restaurants for 40% of our meals and 60 % of the population is suffering from
obesity is plenty enough reason for the corporations to be alarmed and concerned.
The government has no longer allowed fast food industries to get sued over health
issues and in other words has cleared the way for them to make unhealthy choices.
The government standards alone are hurting us. They consider a 3oz. piece of meat
a sensible size and do not restrict school cafeterias from offering junk food to our
children. Nutritionists insist we should not eat fast food at all and at the maximum
once a month. McDonald's alone runs more than 30,000 restaurants in more then
100 countries on 6 continents. www.supersizeme.com This issue can ultimately kill
the vast majority of Americans through high cholesterol, strokes, coronary heart
disease, gall bladder disease, heart disease and many other health related risks. The
number of Americans getting sick is quickly growing. Here is an interesting fact, if we
keep up the fast food trend, obesity will overtake smoking as the #1 cause of death.

5. What is the extent of the
problem?
 This problem extends to health of our children in which we are responsible for and
should be offering good choices. In the last 20 to 25 years we have seen weight gain
almost double among our children. If this continues 1 out of every 3 kids will develop
diabetes in their life time and they could end up with liver failure. This situation is
spinning out of control and needs to be taken a closer look at from the businesses to
the laws. The government could really help the situation by making school cafeterias
healthier and joining the Nutritional Resource Foundation & Natural Ovens Bakery in
their mission to help our children make healthy choices and install habits that lead
them in good health. We could get a grasp on this problem as well, if the fast food
chains would offer healthier choices along side the unhealthy ones, do away with
super sizing and 32 oz pops. They need to offer smaller portions and stop
advertisements featuring the children’s favorite pop stars and athletes. I think
Subway should be inspiring to the fast food industry in its mission to make money off
of helping people lose weight and taking a social responsibility to this epidemic.
These companies want to ignore the fact that children and adults are in bad health
due to their business. Fast food makes you feel unhealthy and become unhealthy.
The more you eat it the more addicted you become to their slabs of meat covered in
cheese and sugary, caffeinated beverages. It entails consuming more calories and
cholesterol than necessary and destroys your body.

6. Quiz
How many hours straight would you have to walk to burn off a super-
sized coke , fry, and Big Mac?

7. Answer
 You would have to walk SEVEN hours straight to burn off a super
sized coke, fry and Big Mac!

8. The Facts
Gather All Pertinent Who has Vested Quiz Yourself
Facts Surrounding Interest in the Issue
the Issue

9. Gather all the pertinent facts
surrounding the issues
 Here are the facts:
 America is becoming obese
 medical cost is increasing rapidly
 kids are being lured in
 we are becoming extremely unhealthy

10. Who has vested interest in the
issue
 I believe parents and schools are becoming more concerned and the healthier people
of America. There has been a raised concern through this documentary, Super Size
Me and has brought the problem to the fore front.
 The fast food industry is benefiting greatly from our dependence on quick and
appetizing food. They are luring us in as children and reinforcing bad habits into our
brains. They go as far as birthday parties at their restaurants, playgrounds, kids’
meals and advertisement for a children’s audience. Ultimately, we as adults are
suffering. They lure us in as kids and encourage bad choices and then we suffer as
adults from bad health. We are offered convenience at a price and the fast food
industry is not taking social responsibility for the outcome of our health, instead they
offer us cheap fatty food. They place these restaurants at every shopping
mall, airport and any other frequently traveled location to make it easy on us to give
in. They don’t stop there though they go as far as asking us to super size our meals
convincing us to take in triple or more the calories necessary to survive.

11. Quiz
McDonald’s feeds how many people in a day?

12. Answer
McDonald’s feeds more than 46 million people a day.

13. Conclusion
 This is what I think should happen. As I have mentioned above I believe fast food
restaurants should follow the example Subway has lead and offer a healthy
alternative that includes food with nutritional value and nutritional facts stated on the
menu to guide you in the right direction. I also believe that we should join the
Nutritional Resource Foundation & Natural Ovens Bakery in offering our children
nutrition in their school cafeterias. Their needs to be a cut back in advertisements
that draw children into bad choices and more on healthy alternatives again Subway
sets a good example. I believe Super Size Me has been an alert to all fast food
chains and the attention this movie brought to the school lunches will hopefully alert
our government policy makers. I believe the only other solution we have not covered
is the individual’s responsibility and the responsibility of parents to set good
examples. I believe if “Corporate America” offers us healthy alternatives and
encourages America to eat healthier we will follow suit.

14. References
 Morgan Spurlock(Producer/Writer).(2004). Super Size Me [Motion Picture]. United
States: Sundance Film Festival.
 undefined. (2008-2009). supersizeme.com. In super size me. Retrieved Febuary
2nd, 2010, from www.supersizeme.com.