Posted on 10/02/2004 1:40:55 PM PDT by Joe Republc
Anyone see the movie "SuperSize Me"?
While no doubt FReepers would have lots of qualms about the political and cultural views stuffed, er, down our throats while watching this movie, there's no doubt that there's an important message the movie does hammer home.
America is getting a lot fatter. And it's going to kill more and more of us.
As someone in his mid-forties, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that I see a LOT more obese people now than twenty years ago. The movies brings the growing elephant in the living room to our attention very well.
Some obvious stuff we all should know anyway:
- We eat too much fast food.
- We don't eat enough 'good' food.
- We drink way too much soda.
- Our food portions are getting much bigger.
- The notion of a balanced meal is out the window for many kids.
- Most of us don't exercise nearly enough.
- Many of us drive everywhere, not walking.
- Many, many more kids are fat than there used to be.
What's not obvious, and will unfortunately be more clear over time...
- More of us will die earlier from obesity.
- Kids' life expectancy is less now that when we grew up because of obesity.
Now, the movie wants to blame MacDonald's, of course. And it paints them as bad guys, though not as grotesquely as Michael Moore would have done. (I wonder if he likes Big Macs?) And these unmarried Gen X New Yorkers just have to matter-of-factly tell you about their sex lives, and espouse some leftish political views, but none of this gets in the way of the movie. Oh, and there's a surgery scene on someone's stomach that I couldn't stand to watch.
If you can live with the above caveats, the movie is worth seeing because it does deliver the obesity-warning in a overall entertaining fashion. I plan on watching it again with my wife, who indulges my kids way too much with garbage food when I'm not around. And I would LIKE to show the movie to my kids, but it has too much vulgarity. An edited version would be great.
One other thing.... look at my other posts, FReepers. I'm not a health nut. I'm not a troll. I'm not an anti-capitalist, anti-MacDonald's zealot. But I do see lots of folks around me getting heavier and unhealthier. This movie is an entertaining way to have more people get a serious message.
-- Joe
I mean, really, who knew??
We watched it...it was entertaining.
There were definite political overtones.
But what I found amazing was his doctor's responses.
At the beginning the doctor had no idea that the McDonald diet would bring on the same kind of liver problems that he would see with a binge alcoholic.
It was if the doctor didn't have a clue as to the kind of havoc this type of diet would bring on this guy's body.
He was having 5500 calories a day.
I think that the profession of dietician needs to go back to the drawing board. I've known a few, and all of them have been overweight. A couple downright morbidly obses, and not one could prepare a meal worth eating.
I believe the answer will come down to the sugar/glucose we consume, not fat. What leads me to that assumption is the sudden upsurge in type 2 diabetes. This used to be called "adult onset" because kids didn't get it. Now it's an epidemic among kids. This has to be diet--you cannot blame it on TV and video games. We all have known lots of sedentary skinny people.
Yeah, I was surprised the doctor was so surprised.
As far as the movie's premise, and whether or not in fact the guy could legitimately gain 20 pounds in a month.... Well, no doubt the movie's premise was ridiculous. Of course, it's idiotic to only eat McDonald's for a month. Or Pizza Hut or Taco Bell, or most other popular food places. Still, the premise worked as a good vehicle for the movie's plot, although I do think the guy took unnecessary health risks doing so.
I really didn't have any reason to doubt the guy really did eat all McDonald's and only McDonald's, or to doubt the weight gain of 20 pounds. Maybe some other FReepers who know more about health and diet can challenge this or inform me otherwise.
-- Joe
I have noticed this. I passed a little girl on the street today in front of her elementary school. She was HUGE. If she had been an adult she would have been around 270 pounds! In the case of children it is the parents fault.
Children (and adults) should keep fast food intake to a minimum (I eat close to none). Sweets should not be used as a "treat" when raising children and also kept to a minimum.
Meals should be based around fresh meats, FRESH vegetables, whole grains and fruits. (I actually keep fruits at a minimum). It's not hard to make really delicious food using these buidelines. Fun foods aren't forbidden ..but used relatively sparingly.
He also adopted a sedentary lifestyle, wearing a pedometer to make sure he didn't walk more than the average american.
I didn't see the movie but I believe it is possible to gain 20 pounds specifically at McDonalds. Everything on the menu has, not just fat, but saturated trans-fats.
I saw it in the theater..it was hilarious..although nobody in their right mind would do this on a daily basis.
SuperSize Me makes some good points, but it is also pretty stupid. I don't think it looks at the paradigm shift that has occurred in the past 40 or 50 years that lead to today's obese children.
We have a runaway federal government that has steadily racheted up the tax burden to try to satiate their desire to buy more votes to the extent that stay-at-home moms are virtually nonexistent. As more moms entered the workforce, free/leisure time became more scarce because not only did moms work, they still had families to care for. When the kids needed to get to football practice or dance class or whatever, it was mom who took them and waited to pick them up. It was also mom who was supposed to be cooking dinner for the family to eat together. And, while mom cooked, the kids ran to the computer or the GameBoy or the Nintendo or the PlayStation. Homework was strictly reserved for after dinner - NOT before.
So, as the time constraints on mom became greater, something had to give. A lot of moms tried to be everything to their families - mom, breadwinner, taxi, cook, cleaner and bottlewasher. It got to be too much. Home cooked meals took too long to prepare and, frankly, too often mom was too tired. It became simple to make a quick run to Mikey D's once or twice a week to help mom out.
Eating out, however, soon became a regular activity that relieved mom from having to cook, released her from the burden of an extra chore and allowed her to spend more "quality time" with dad and the kids. After all, they had the money because they had two incomes that they originally needed because Congress was unable/unwilling to control spending. So, eating out became commonplace. And, as schools deemphasized nutrition and phys ed, the kids grew up developing poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle that revolved around video games and fast food.
But, the problem goes beyond just junk food in the school vending machines and high sugar sodas. Parenting is a skill that is being lost. Parents have too little time to devote fully to their kids and they have been fed too much crapola about "quality time". Kids don't know squat about "quality time", but they know that they need parents and anytime they have a parent around is "quality time" to them - 24 hours a day. Parents are supposed to tell the kids when to turn off the GameBoy or the computer. My mom used to give me two choices - go outside or go read a book. The electronic babysitter was an option with very definite limits.
So, IMO, it misses a significant part of the argument to blame obese children on fast/junk food and high sugar sodas. There is a cultural piece to this that is being ignored in addition to the education part. Even today, as we engage in this discussion, schools are eliminating recess so they can devote more time to "class work". Fewer biological parents want to make the necessary sacrifices for a healthier lifestyle. The choices are tough. With two incomes, they can buy more for the kids - but the kids are deprived of the opportunity for real time with their parents.
A concerned parent (if there are any left) might want to find out what the "class work" consists of - too often, the kids are planted in front of a computer so the teacher can rest. Thus the cycle continues to spin out of control.
As a kid growing up, we didn't have a lot. My dad was a career military man and we moved around a lot. Most of my childhood, my mom didn't work. Even though money wasn't plentiful, we never went hungry of lacked the essentials. We had a stay-at-home mom who took delight in her kids and made sure that we ate healthy, home cooked meals. My parents took an interest in our schooling and our lifestyle and did their best to ensure that we had strong foundations in the essentials. We didn't have computers or GameBoys (they didn't exist in those days), nor any of the equivalent devices of the day. Still, in retrospect, compared to today's kids, I can't think of too many things about my childhood that I would want to change. It wasn't perfect, but we also didn't grow up to be obese adults fighting heart disease, atherosclerosis, strokes and/or myocardialinfarctions due to being overweight.
I think 3500 unburned calories will cause about a pound of weight gain. If the guy's basic calorie needs were 2000/day, that works out to about 1 lb. gained each day, which agrees with the claimed gain of 27 lb. in a month.
Hi Joe!
first, Hello! I don't believe we've spoken before.
Second, I've been noticing the trend towards obesity for the last several years.
Here's a story:
I'm a BAAAAADDDD Freeeper: I like Disney World. Go there any chance I get, which for me, averages about every 2 1/2 years.
( It's okay if you decide not to talk to me now)
Apologies here for what I am about to say to all actually disabled folks and their families... I see marathon family teams with a kid in a wheelchair all of the time at Disney. "Make a Wish" foundation is one of my favorite charities .
Disney World is tough. If you are NOT in decent shape, aren't able to move well you are wasting your money and losing park-time. Disney is expensive, and you want to get as much bang for your buck as you can.
Lolly-gagging will NOT do.
I actually train some before I go. Get the feet into shape, drop some weight, build some stamina.
Usually people moan about going to Disney and gaining weight.
*I* go to Disney, eat like a horse, drink anything I want, and usually lose 10 pounds during a week's stay.
( I call it the "Disney Ice Cream and Margarita Diet")
Last two times I was there, I was STUNNED by the number of folks I saw
riding on those little scooters.
There were dozens of them, every where.
They trundle their way about, demand to get handicapped access to attractions , and the vast majority are my age or younger. ( I'm 44) AND they are often rude and will run right over your feet with those things, too!
These were not rented, Disney issue scooters, either. These were things that people obviously brought from home. Customised with decals and sometimes people's names on them in fancy colors.
Sure, there were a few elderly folks with their grandkids. Sure, some of those people had a cane or a walker stashed in the sling on the back of the scooter. Those folks actually need their scooter and i will stand back, smile and hold the door for them.
But MOST of these people were simply grossly overweight, and using the scooter was how they got around the parks. Based on the number of personalised scooters I saw, that's how they live. They don't walk, EVER if they can help it.
Now I have no problem with someone using a scooter if they honestly need it, ( My best friend has MS and occasionally needs a wheel-chair)
But C'MON!
A lot of the folks I saw would get MUCH better if they would get up off of their dead bottoms and actually WALK a bit.
I can not finish the portions that are served to me at a "normal" sit down reataurant. Went to Johnny Carino's, new in town yesterday. All three of us took a go box.
I always end up with a box to take home.
Lunch for tomorrow!
I passed through the Tokyo airport last week. I would estimate 90% of the women had a waistline smaller than the average American woman's calf. (Not to mention the 'cow' above the 'calf')
From there, I went to Hawaii - where people hike their shirts up so everyone can admire their rolls of fat. Very depressing.
Move more. Eat less. What a concept!
I remember being told to finish my food with the old saying, 'remember, there are children starving in China.' That old saying never made sense to me.
Anyway, at most restaurants, we are better off leaving food scraps, or taking some home for lunch the next day. It's ALWAYS too much food now. That's a weird thing to even think of as a complaint. But we just have to say 'no' and 'that's enough' to ourselves and our kids more.
-- Joe
Came across this thread.
I am a bit overweight. My problem is that I have been conditioned to expect and crave these unnaturally large portions. I feel hungry unless I eat a LOT more of something than I should. I think if I could force myself for a few weeks to eat less I would re-condition myself and lose the extra 30 or so pounds while still eating steaks and other (non-vegan) normal foods.
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