Did anyone watch this film? I watched it last night on CBC.

Wikipedia article

I haven't eaten a Big Mac since 1969. So I'm already 'against' junk food. But I wonder if he really felt as sick as he said he did after a couple weeks of McFood.

Or whether he just overdramatized a bit, to create a cautionary tale.

I have it on tape. It was a little over dramatized. I don't think anyone can eat 3 meals a day, everyday for 30 days. I did find it interesting to know the facts throughout the movie. It talked about junk food in the schools and obesity in children. It showed all the fast food restaurants and lots of health statistics. When he did the documentary, he consulted with 2 doctors and a nutritionist throughout the filming. He also has a show on cable called 30 Days. I don't think he was faking getting sick. I think it was very real.

Yeah, I suppose he could have been as sick as he said, eating 3 meals a day there, which brought him up over 5,000 Calories when he was used to half that. At least once he ate till he sikked up, on camera.

Notice that though he was a fit and active male it still took him over a year to lose the weight he gained in one month.

Eating any unhealthy food day in and day out would accomplish many of the same things as what happened to him. Although he continually blamed fast food establishments throughout the entire movie, the thing that always popped into my mind was that it's a choice that people make.

I've told the story before of a family that used to frequent my McDonalds at LEAST twice a week. A mom, her sister, and someone's two small children, about 10 and 8. Super-sized meals for the adults and Mighty Kids meals for the kids. And yes, they were obese. I felt sorry for the kids, since the weight and habits they learn now will probably stay with them forever.

I will never fault the fast food industry for the obesity of our nation - I fault the people themselves for being lazy and making the poor choices.

I get sick when I eat McDonalds. I remember when it didn't make me sick and it may be partially due to age, but I can't stomach the food anymore. It's just too greasy and possibly too starchy or something that I can't quite figure out.

That doesn't always stop me from getting an occasional quarter pounder with cheese and regretting it. I try to keep my McD's visits at a minimum though - like a few times a year.

If you drive through the bad neighborhoods in this city, you see a bunch of poor people that basically eat three times a day at McD's. They are so obese it's messed up.

America - Land of the obese poor people. Modern day famine to give people food that starves them of nutrition. Read "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon babthrower... you'll enjoy that one.

Oh gosh! I can't understand that poorpeople can actually afford to eat 3 meals a day at McD's!?!?!?! Now THAT'S not cheap!

I'm getting a little ticked off hearing about the government stepping in and taking out vending machines from school etc etc saying that these junk foods cause obesity. Now, if a person wants to eat garbage food, they will find another vendor who's just as guilty! (?)

WHO CARES? These places exist for people who chose their products. You don't HAVE to eat there. There are many things available to people, like cigarettes, alcohol, over counter drugs.. you name it. Take it or leave it! STOP blaming the manufacturers for your own addictions.

This is not aimed at anyone here. It just makes me mad.

"I'm getting a little ticked off hearing about the government stepping in and taking out vending machines from school etc etc saying that these junk foods cause obesity. Now, if a person wants to eat garbage food, they will find another vendor who's just as guilty! (?)"

Surely the schools have the obligation not to provide easy access to unhealthy things. They don't sell cigarettes in schools, do they? (Anticipating the comeback regarding the legalities involving cigarettes and minors, I will point out that some student in public schools can legally buy cigarettes.) I know of few, possibly no, state-supported colleges that sell alcohol, yet many students can legally purchase it.

Quite simply, schools aren't there to sell junk food to students. Having taught both in public and private middle and high schools in the last ten years, I can give first hand evidence of the alarming number of students who are seriously overweight. I once had to break up a fight involving three female high school students, all of whom were both taller than me and outweighed me by at least 25 pounds. I weighed 225 at the time. (I'm just grateful that the really big kids stayed out of it.) I also taught at a middle school, whose enrollment was about 300. Close to 100 of those 7th and 8th grade students weighed over 200 pounds. I can't speak to the situation in Canada, but the US has a serious problem with obese children. Ignoring it will just make it worse.

I agree with no vending machines in schools.

I also remember when there were no sodas served in schools. Just milk, water and juice, but I see that being served now.

I also see much worse food selections being served for lunches.

The problem is, I think many people do not know how to cook healthy meals and with the reduced amount of time with work, etc fast easy to prepare pre-packaged foods are the rule rather than the exception being served at home.

Here's a sad but true story.

I was subbing in a Vancouver high school, and I was chatting with a janitor one day. He said he hated emptying the garbage cans in the lunch rooms/cafeteria, because of the untouched bags of fruit, whole wheat sandwiches, and cartons of milk which had just been chucked out by students who went, instead, to pop and candybar dispensers, or nearby corner shops, to buy the junk food they craved. He said he and his wife gave their own kids no cash allowance, unless the kids specified something they wanted to buy. Then the parents gave them the money, and the kids later had to produce the sales slip to show they'd bought what they said they needed. Meantime they encouraged their kids to participate in sports. I never met him again, so I don't know if it worked.

I do think it's wrong that junk food is sold in schools. Schools should present positive behavior models. It won't always work; but the alternative will never work.

Let me get on my soapbox for a minute. Drive through an inner city some time and observe the stores. NO supermarkets, the kind with the produce section and healthy fare. It costs too much to run a supermarket, since they make money from the center aisles, canned food and specialty items. Most fruit available in an inner city is heavy with preservatives, or very expensive produce shipped in from far away, and it isn't very fresh. And they need to accept the food stamps, which takes a lot of subsidizing. The fast food places survive because it's usually what they know, and what is familiar to most people passing through.

Someone at Yale did a study about this very thing, and then started a farmer's market one day a week. It was so successful that farmers in neighboring towns started calling her to bring in produce. She was named Register Person of the Year, they had an article about her in the paper a couple of days ago. Now, that's what I call a solution.

Cheeseburger - $.49
Dollar menu including double cheeseburgers and fries, deep fried apple pies, etc.
less than $5 for a large meal in Chicago is pretty darn good.

Yes, this isn't a cheap city to live in and our poor here are better off eating McD's than trying to keep a refrigerator stocked with produce. Especially those people who are single like a whole lot of the urban poor.

It's quite a bit different than rural or small cities. If you lived here you might not question whether it's cheaper to eat all meals at McD's and SUbway if you're single. Maintaining a pantry and staples isn't always a workable thing for people without their own home - single room occupancy style living.

There's an interesting move afoot in some urban areas to grow food in parks and rooftop gardens. Also takes care of a considerable amount of compostable garbage, too, from local residents. This is a lot to expect of working people, but not too much if the people are unemployed.

Also, after the fall of the U.S.S.R. and its very large subsidies to Cuba, and with the U.S. trade embargo still in place after 50 years, the Cubans were in pretty desperate straits. So they started urban gardening. The work is done by volunteers and by people on assistance (who are paid a very small amount for the work) and has been a big success.

It would be ironic if the Cuban inner city people are better off, health-wise, than our urban poor.

I can't speak to Canada's inner city residents, but the Cuban inner city residents have far better health care than those in the US.

Some facts regarding health care -

Infant Mortality Rate

Canada.......... - 4.69 deaths/1,000 live births
Cuba............ - 6.22 deaths/1,000 live births
United States... - 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births

Life Expectancy Rate

Canada
total population: 80.22 years
male: 76.86 years
female: 83.74 years (2006 est.)

Cuba
total population: 77.41 years
male: 75.11 years
female: 79.85 years (2006 est.)

United States
total population: 77.85 years
male: 75.02 years
female: 80.82 years (2006 est.)

Cuba doesn't seem to be doing too bad for a country with a serious lack of available medicine and, according to some posters on AP, poor medical facilities. (Maybe they are just genetically superior.)

I think the "conspiracy" is far wider than the fast food places. Have you noticed the size of dinner plates and cereal bowls that are being sold now? They look like serving plates!

DD

Too many people do not know how to shop, where to shop, or how to make nutritious meals, requiring little preparation, at low cost.

As for fast food, once you begin to eat wisely, most fast food items taste awful.

I agree Tsaeb. I don't eat fast food. It's nasty. The last time I ate from Burger King was at an airport about 2 years ago. I ate just a little and just couldn't finish it. I always feel sick after fast food. It is greasy and messy and I never feel satisfied after eating. It's just sort of that rock in the stomach feeling. Burger King has the worst fries. You better eat it quick too because it gets cold very fast. Ever eat cold fries and cold nuggets? Gross. Wendy's is overly expensive too. I remember ordering a burger, fries and a Coke. "That will be $12.37 please pull around." The last time I ate McDonald's was in chat a few years ago and Giz made me want a hamburger. I think I bought a kiddie meal! LOL I was so hungry in there that I ran to the corner McDonald's. I'll pass on the fast food. I know better now.

clarebear: I don't mind Wendy's potato for 99 cents or McDonald's sundae at various prices.