Nutrition Perspective Research Paper



Nutrition Perspective Research PaperBy: Christine Ockey HLTH 1020Nutrition Perspective Research PaperFor this paper we were asked to choose either a book or a documentary to study and then research information. Throughout this paper I will be explaining why I chose the documentary I did, who is the author and what his nutritional background is, the year the documentary was released and if the information is still relevant, how the documentary shares or contradicts my current textbook, and finally, what I took away from this assignment. Super-Size Me Super-Size Me is a documentary that displays how fast food has effected Americans and their current health. It stars Morgan Spurlock, a movie producer, and his results in exploring the fast food industry. Spurlock’s theory was: fast food is a leading cause of obesity in America. With this theory sprouted a curiosity of; what would happen if he were to eat solely McDonalds for thirty days? Thus, the documentary was formed. He pooled together a generous amount of nutritionists and dietitians to interview with expertise. He also sets up a number of doctor visits with a cardiologist, physician, and a gastrologist. His health prior to the experiment was healthy and he was sitting at eleven percent body fat. Day one established four rules; 1) He can only Super-Size when asked to Super-Size. If he asked, he has to say yes. 2) He can only eat McDonalds and this includes water. 3) He has to eat everything on the menu at least once in the thirty days. 4) He must eat at least three meals a day if not more. With those rules in mind, he starts interviewing people on the street about if they eat out and how many times a week do they generally eat out. I can already see a flaw in the experiment in that he targets overweight people. I understand why he interviewing those who seem over weight, to raise the awareness that fast food is a large contributor but this experiment doesn’t seem random. But a better way to have this relate to everyone and get better results is to have people of all races, sizes, and genders interviewed. I would’ve also found it interesting if he did more interviews with children and parents. Reason being, he mentions the play grounds inside McDonalds and how this attracts a younger generation giving the impression “they start young”. I would like to hear from children what their favorite meals are and what they eat regularly along with what their parents believe they should feed their children. Because he spent a generous segment on children I would’ve liked to see more facts than opinion on this issue. By the end of the experiment he went from eleven percent body fat and increased by thirteen percent. His cholesterol increases heavily and it was no surprise. If you choose to eat only fast food, negative effects will happen. Why I Chose Super-Size Me1I chose the documentary Super-Size Me for a number of reasons; 1) I was familiar with the name. Super-Size Me is a popular documentary with a gross income of over 22 million dollars and excellent ratings on various critic sites. 2) I remember in school having watched it however, this was years ago and I was curious now that I’m older with more knowledge how it could phase me today. 3) This was one of the few options that was not only free, but accessible right away rather than waiting a couple days for shipment or even driving out of my way to find a copy. I quickly found the documentary at no cost and was able to start the research. Author and Background.The author/producer for Super-Size Me is Morgan Spurlock. His reason for creating this documentary was to press the issue of obesity in America and what he believes is the biggest contributor: fast food. Morgan Spurlock is a movie producer and from what I could research has zero educational background other than the basic knowledge. He is what seems to be a vegetarian along with his girlfriend so I know he understands the benefits of clean natural food. He doesn’t have any nutritional background but he does show many people who are qualified in nutrition. He has various dietitians talk in the video and makes frequent visits to doctor offices. I personally think he should have had someone with education is nutrition follow him around during this process, that may have helped bring up healthier options when it comes to fast food or even educate us as to why certain foods aren’t any good. Is It Still Applicable?This documentary was produced and released in 2004. That means it has been thirteen years since this documentary was released and with that, there will be some changes in the information provided via Super-Size Me. Information I think that is still relevant is information the dietitian provided as far as what his daily intake should be. She mentioned that he should be eating about 2500 calories a day and told him what his daily intake in saturated fat and sugar should be. There is a section in the documentary when he talks with a man who is involved with a magazine dedicated to walking. In this chat the man mentions 2,000 steps adds up to a mile and everybody should be taking 5,000 steps a day. Now experts say you should try to reach 10,000 steps a day. Although 10,000 may be the magic number, I think more of the goal is to get people to exercise, according to the documentary, sixty percent of Americans are inactive and that number has now increased to eighty percent. Super-Size Me is named after the infamous serving size McDonalds offered. If you are younger, you may be wondering why you’ve never seen these size portions marketed. According to McDonalds UK they have no longer served the Super-Size meal since 2001 and that idea wasn’t adopted in the U.S. until later in 2004, shortly after Super-Size Me was released (McDonalds has stated the documentary has nothing to do with this decision). So this documentary is outdated in the sense that it put a heavy emphasis on portion control. Not only is Super-Size no longer offered but the serving sizes in general at McDonalds and other fast food chains have shrunk. In your Big Mac you assume to see two patties and an extra bun in the middle giving the look of two burgers smashed together. You will still find those two patties in todays’ Big Mac but those patties will be half the size they used to be. You will also notice the bun size isn’t as wide as it was when the documentary was released in 2004. Textbook ComparisonWhile watching Super-Size Me, I was asked to compare and analyze three topics from my textbook. I chose three topics that I felt either complimented or contradicted Morgan Spurlock and his documentary.In the documentary Spurlock interviews specialists and has facts that he inserts throughout the film. At the very beginning Spurlock mentions that sixty percent of Americans do not exercise (we now know this number has increased to eighty percent). They mention a solution is to simply walk more. Spurlock and walking specialist suggest that 2,000 steps make up a mile and around 5,000 steps a day should be your goal. I believe this compliments chapter fourteen of our textbook. Chapter fourteen focuses on exercise and it states that you should be getting 75 min. of exercise a week in 10 min. increments. Walking could easily be your 75 min a week by simply trying to get to the grocery store on foot or even to take a stroll around the neighborhood. The whole point of Super-Size Me is to show the damage fast food has on people. In chapter two, the textbook talks about the how its harmful to consume too much saturated fats, sugars, trans fat, and sodium. The results Spurlock had was the results you have when over consuming. The results compliment the textbooks chapter. The major drive to film this documentary is that America is overweight. In chapter seven of our text book it states that 65% of Americans are overweight and 50% of that number is obese. With that number you them wonder how we became this way and thus sprouted theory behind fast food. What Did I Learn?How does this lesson link to health and how can I make this information is everyday life? Thus the question every student has to every assignment we are asked to turn in. So it only seems fitting that we would be asked to self-evaluate and find reasons why we got something out of this research. Well lucky for me I actually found a topic in the list we were given in which I also feel very passionate on. Although Super-Size Me is not a perfect representation of stone cold facts and has flaws, it sparked opinions in me which helped me type out this paper. From this documentary and the research I have done on fast food there is no doubt that fast food is harmful to our bodies (varies from food item and restaurant). Fast food chain’s goal is to make quick money while spending less. With less attention to detail and money comes ingredients that are cheap, cheap in price and quality. With this you are not only going to get higher sodium for taste, but also the freshness in vegetables and fruit won’t be there. To save money businesses will have large factories supply the animal, cut it up with a machine and ship it frozen to the franchise making it frozen food they are frying for your dinner. You can understand how this isn’t food that will meet your body’s needs. Not to mention, sugar adds flavor, but sugar is more expensive than high fructose corn syrup and therefore things that are “lightly sweetened” are still providing more than your daily intake of sugars. I will absolutely take this information with me in my day to day life. Making “eating out” a special event not the weekly usual. I want to be sure I am in control of the nutrients that enter my body and when preparing my own food I am in control of that. I want to also continue to support my local farmers markets and the local farmers in the produce they supply. This is a more fresh produce and it helps put money into the community vs. a large corporation. ReferencesSpurlock, M. (Producer). (n.d.). Super size me [Video file].Why did McDonald's remove the 'Super Size' option in the UK? (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2017, from , R. (2014, March 07). The Truth About '10,000 Steps' a Day. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from , J. (2004, March 03). McDonald's Scrapping 'Supersize'. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from , R. (2013, May 03). CDC: 80 percent of American adults don't get recommended exercise. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from [Add footnotes, if any, on their own page following references. For APA formatting requirements, it’s easy to just type your own footnote references and notes. To format a footnote reference, select the number and then, on the Home tab, in the Styles gallery, click Footnote Reference. The body of a footnote, such as this example, uses the Normal text style. (Note: If you delete this sample footnote, don’t forget to delete its in-text reference as well. 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