Lakhasly

SUPER SIZE ME n this brilliant and innovative documen- tritional guidelines. Furthermore, a meal like tary, director Morgan Spurlock decided to
that contains a high percentage of saturated
L test McDonald's claim that their food is fat 3 and very high levels of sodium. True, it
'good for you." The idea came to him after might be possible to order a more healthy reading about two fast-food loving, New York meal: a small, plain burger, for example, with
teenagers who sued McDonald's as the source a diet soda and a small French fries, but how of their weight problem. He would film him- many customers actually choose meals like self as he carried out an experiment, which this?
consisted of living for 30 davs on a strict diet
In the movie Spurlock implies that what
of fast food. The rules were simble: he had to he undergoes in a month, many Americans ex-eat three meals a day at McDonald's. he had to perience over a longer period of regular fast-try everything on the menu at least once, and food consumption. The statistics appear to he always had to "super-size" his meal if support his theory that America's waistlines
have expanded in direct proportion to the ex-
Before starting his diet, Morgan had a pansion of fast-food chains. Spurlock also
comprehensive medical exam--he was in very backs up his implications with solid reporting
good shape- and the doctors predicted that about the state of school lunch progtams, to the diet would have little ettect on his voung, show how schools are promoting the junk healthy body. But check-ups during the exper- food habit from an early age. iment broved them wrono: he oained 30
At certain points in the film. Spurlock
pounds (13.5 kg), his cholesterol soared' and does seem to get carried away with himself. We
atter three weeks one doctor was seronsly could do without some of the sillier features. concerned obent the state of his liver
such as parodied" songs and jokes about the
One could obiect that no reasonable per-
McFish sandwiches. But on the whole, the
son would eat all his meals at McDonald's, movie is fast-paced, laugh-out-loud funny, which is true, of course, but not entirely. Many and very convincing. You'll think twice before people eat at fast-food restaurants every week, you head down the road for your next "Big if not several times a week, since these places
Mac."
offer a quick, relatively cheap meal. Even at
If you do go, however, you may notice one
that frequency, these meals are far from interesting change. Just weeks after the movie healthy. 'The typical order of Big Mac, medium premiered and won a prize at the Sundance French fries, and strawberry shake includes al-
Film Festival, McDonald's eliminated its "Su-
most as many calories as most people should per Size" portions. eat in a whole day, according to national nu-