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1 STUDYGUIDE PENNIE STOYLES Super Size Me is a documentary that could serve as a springboard to discussion on fast food, nutrition, food advertising and obesity rates in children. It could also be a useful learning tool for encouraging students to examine their own eating habits and societal changes taking place with regard to food production and consumption and the roles and responsibilities of large fast food corporations. The fi lm is suitable for teachers of adolescents are car- ItIt allall addsadds upup toto a ffatat middle to senior secondary students rying too much fat foodfood bill,bill, harrowingharrowing in English, Science (Biological sci- and two out of every visitsvisits toto thethe doctor,doctor, andand ences), Health and Physical Education three adults are over- compellingcompelling viewingviewing forfor any-any- (Health of individuals and populations) weightweight oror obese.obese. IsIs itit theirtheir faultfault oneone who’swho’s everever wonderedwondered ifif manman and Studies of Society and Environ- for lacking self-control, or are the fast could live on fast food alone. ment and Media. food corporations to blame? The fi lm explores the horror of school Super Size Me Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the lunch programs, declining health and road and interviewed experts in physical education classes, food ad- Why are westerners so fat? Find out in twenty US cities, including Houston, dictions and the extreme measures Super Size Me, a tongue-in-cheek and the ‘Fattest City’ in America. From people take to lose weight and regain burger-in-hand look at the legal, fi nan- Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, their health. cial and physical costs of America’s cooks to kids, lawmakers to legisla- hunger for fast food. tors, these authorities shared their Super Size Me takes a satirical jab research, opinions and ‘gut feelings’ at the billion-dollar fast food industry Disturbingly, thirty-seven on America’s ever-expanding girth. which has been besieged by doctors, per cent of Ameri- lawyers and nutritionists alike. ‘Would can children and During the journey, Spurlock you like fries with that?’ will never also put his own body on the sound the same again! line, living on nothing but McDonald’s for an entire www.supersizeme.com month with three simple rules: Before you watch the fi lm: 1 No options: he could 1 Ask friends and family about their only eat what was avail- fast food eating habits. able over the counter a What is fast food? (water included!); b Where do you buy fast food? 2 No supersizing un- c How often do you eat fast less offered; food? 3 No excuses: he had d How often do you think you to eat every item on should eat it? the menu at least e What is your favourite food once. and drink? 2 Look at the key words below and discuss the meanings with your teacher or your classmates: 2 TheThe ffollowingollowing AmericanAmerican termsterms aarere usedused inin thethe fi lm.lm. WhatWhat termsterms wouldwould wewe useuse inin AustraliaAustralia ttoo meanmean thethe samesame thing?thing? gasgas stationstation / sodasoda / quartquart / candycandy / cookiecookie / griddlegriddle / ketchupketchup Buzz WordsWords The following words are used in the documentary: ‘supersize’, ‘junk food’, ‘McFrankenstein’ and ‘fast food’. Dis- cuss with your classmates what you think they mean. There are other words and phrases that have developed to describe aspects of the current generation, such as ‘couch potato’. What does this mean? Can you think of other examples? obese • binge • diet • calorie • vegan • language that are different from what organic • epidemic • nutrition • indulge we use in Australia. The US still uses • senses • toxic • law suit • overweight the imperial system of measurement • preventable • processed • addiction • whereas Australia switched to the blood pressure • lobbyist metric system in the 1970s. Key scientifi c words: Go to a text book, dictionary or web diabetes • cholesterol • cardiologist site and convert the following meas- • BMI (body mass index) • gastroen- urement units: terologist • dietician • triglycerides • kilojoule http://www.convert-me.com/en/ 3 The following issues are raised in Mass: one pound = ... kilograms (kg) the fi lm. Discuss what you think Length: one inch = ... centimetres (cm) the fi lm is going to show you. Volume: one fl uid ounce = ... millilitres Overweight and Obese a The balance between corpo- (mL) rate and personal responsibil- One US gallon = ... litres (L) This documentary uses the terms ity for the food we eat. Energy: one calorie = ... kilojoules (kj) overweight and obese. What do you b The effect of advertising and think these two words mean? Look up brand imprinting on young a Morgan Spurlock began the the meanings of these two terms in a children. month weighing 185.5 pounds and dictionary. c School canteens and the fi nished weighing 210 pounds. foods they serve. Convert these two measurements The scientifi c defi nition of the two d How children’s exercise pat- to kilograms and calculate his terms relies on a calculation called terns have changed since the weight gain in kilograms. body mass index (BMI). BMI equals last generation. b A half-gallon soda from 7-eleven weight in kilograms divided by height contains forty-eight teaspoons in metres squared. After you watch the fi lm of sugar. What is this volume in litres? Weight in kg ÷ (Height in m)2 = BMI Americanisms c The dietician stated that Morgan should be consuming 2500 calo- In Australia, the accepted defi nitions This fi lm was produced in the USA ries per day. How many kilojoules of weight categories for adults (over and uses units of measurement and is this? eighteen years) using BMI are (see table 01 on following page): 3 Calculate your BMI using the above equation. *Note that for children under eighteen, the fi gures differ slightlyslightly andand malesmales aandnd femalesfemales havehave differentdifferent classificlassifi cations.cations. UseUse thesethese fi guresgures asas a roughrough guideguide only.only. The way we eat now 8 Do you think the At the beginning of the fi lm, the fi lm- role of the maker shows images of his mother kitchen has cooking in the kitchen and contrasts changed in these with images of people eating in households fast food restaurants. through the generations? Discuss 9 Discuss the cost of fast food com- 1 What do these images suggest pared with food pre- about America’s eating habits? pared at home. 2 Do you think the same is true in Australia? What is in your food? ence of major allergens, a nutrition infor- mation panel and a use-by date. Some In the law suit against them, very small packages are exempted from McDonald’s stated in its own showing nutrition information. defence that it’s a matter of common knowledge that any processing its Many of the ingredients in processed foods undergo, serves to make them food are called Food Additives. They more harmful than unprocessed food. are added in small amounts and have a specifi c use. They are listed by Unprocessed foods have had very little showing their function and either their done to them. A raw apple is unproc- chemical name or a code number. 3 How often do you and your family essed, but if you cut the apple up, add eat a home cooked meal at the sugar to it, wrap it in pastry and cook it, The types of food additives are: dining table? you have an apple pie that is a proc- Colours: restore colour lost during 4 How often do you and your family essed food. When you make an apple processing. eat take-away food at home? pie at home, you know what ingredients Preservatives: prolong shelf life by 5 Do you think that some take-away you have used. When you buy an apple controlling growth of bacteria and foods are healthier than others? pie at the supermarket, the ingredients fungi. 6 How often do you and your family must be listed so you know what you are Antioxidants: prevent foods containing eat at a fast food restaurant? buying. By law the labels must contain a fats and oils from going off (rancid). 7 Ask your parents questions three list of ingredients from greatest to small- Food Acids: maintain acid levels in to six about their childhood. How est by weight (with the percentage of the a food where there are variations in a have eating habits changed? key ingredient), warnings about the pres- product’s acidity. Adults 14-year-old females 14-year-old males Underweight less than 18.5 Healthy Weight 18.5 - 24.9 Overweight 25.0 - 29.9 23.3 – 28.5 22.6 – 27.5 Obese greater than 30.0 greater than 28.6 Greater than 27.6 TABLE 01 4 Thickeners: change the texture and Energy comparisons consistency of food. Humectants: control moisture levels What you need: as they absorb and keep foods moist. • Calculator Flavour enhancers: bring out the • Access to the McDonald’s web fl avours. site at www.mcdonalds.com.au Activity: Reading food labels What to do: What you need: Go to the McDonald’s Australia web • two or three different processed site and click on the nutrition calcula- foods (e.g. breakfast bar, choco- tor. Under the heading ‘Our menu’ late bar, frozen dinner, pasta click on one of the choices (e.g. fries sauce, packet of biscuits) and nuggets). Then click and drag a • Food additive code breaker book menu choice onto the tray. Fill in the or access to http://www.food- name of the menu choice in column standards.gov.au/_srcfi les/new_ A of the table. Pick one menu choice numeric_list_0902.pdf from each heading.