Comments on: Modern Diet Myth No. 1: Eating McDonald’s makes you fat and sick

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 04:38:50 +0000

I am going to do my own research on McDonald’s. I am going to eat the food that Morgan ate but adjust the quantities so that I only have 40% of the calories of his meals. Incidentally my total calories will be less than what I normally eat. I hope I don’t lose weight and that my bio markers don’t improve. Then it would clearly establish Maccas as a health food. I love rigorous scientific inquiry!!

By: Bill Shrapnel

Bill Shrapnel — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 20:53:54 +0000

Hi Jenna
I now spend a lot of my time in country NSW and whenever I eat out I am usually offered about 50% more calories than I could ever possibly eat, all at a reasonable price. This is not just a McDonald’s phenomenon; it’s the new normal. And this is what people need to learn to manage if we are ever going to get on top of the obesity problem.
In obesity prevention there has been a lot of focus on changing environments. However, with the notable exception of schools, I think this focus is misdirected. The underlying environment is that food is abundant, tasty and cheap – and it’s not going to change much unless there is a war or a deep economic recession. How individuals and families interact with that environment is the key. When people follow their instincts they put on weight, but how do you overrule instinct?
Regards, Bill

By: Bill Shrapnel

Bill Shrapnel — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 20:36:06 +0000

If only those who were concerned about addressing the obesity epidemic had focussed on calories from the start we may have made more progress in dealing with this problem. Instead, for 20 years the general public was told to eat less fat; in the case of Mr Spurlock’s film, the message was eat less Maccas; now they are being told to eat less sugar. It has all been about food composition and not about calories.
And we wonder why people are confused. Regards, Bill

By: Freddie

Freddie — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 17:55:10 +0000

Hmmmm…. it’s been a while since I’ve seen this film but I seem to recall it being as much, if not more, about quantity than quality. My impression was that it was largely a protest against the upsizing of meals at a minimal cost, a marketing ploy that encouraged people to consume far greater quantities than they needed. Hence, the very appropriate title “Super Size Me”. For the 30 day duration of his experiment Spurlock purchased and ate a super sized meal every time it was offered. The results being, that since it was offered quite often he therefore ate much more than he would normally. I thought the film achieved all that it had set out to do (plus a bit more… the film is believed to have been instrumental in McDonalds phasing out supersized meal deals within months of its release).

By: Jenna

Jenna — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 23:34:21 +0000

I haven’t seen the film in a while but I was under the impression that he was demonstrating what happens when someone eats takeaway food for each meal. The fact that he used McDonalds, I thought, was because it is an international icon for fast food, just like Coca Cola tends to be the icon for soft drink. And the quantity went up because he attempted to demonstrate how McDonalds insist on adding more for little cost. He only accepted an upsize when offered, which was a lot of the time. He may have called it an experiment but I don’t think he ever intended to be all that scientific about it. It was entertainment for the masses, and his approach was appealing to people who aren’t particularly inclined to watch scientific programs. The film has been criticised many times for that.
I think the message though, regardless of whether it is the means to a favourable end, is important. A slightly different example, but remote clinic staff once asked incredulously why even after bombarding people with the ‘Coke is bad’ message, which they seemed to take on board, people still attended clinic with a bottle of Fanta in hand. In fact, the people are listening to messages. The message was that Coke is bad, but the info that most other soft drinks had about the same amount of sugar wasn’t offered. They took the message very literally.

By: MacSmiley

MacSmiley — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 22:52:34 +0000

True, Spurlock’s movie does not get a pass for scientific methodology. However he does demonstrate the typical amount of calories that so many Americans eat at fast food restaurants on a regular basis, especially since the Value Meal sizes are priced in a way that consumers “get more for their money” when purchasing the larger amounts.

Larger Value Meals => More calories => Weight gain and associated mortality/morbidity