Persuasive

Persuasive

The fast food industry is increasingly growing each day. Consequently, obesity is an epidemic costing over 100 billion dollars each year. A typical serving of fries and a cheeseburger from a fast food restaurant can amount to over 1,000 calories. Magnifying this issue, a documentary titled Super Size Me, written and directed by Morgan Spurlock, depicts problems associated with obesity within a month due to daily consuming food from the giant fast food chain, McDonalds. By consuming the unhealthy food on a daily basis, Spurlock gains 24.5 pounds from his initial weight of 185 pounds. Spurlock’s documentary shows that fast food is linked to serious medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and could possibly lead to death.

Eating fast food regularly or almost exclusively causes obesity. Marilynn Larkin concludes that, “Obesity is now considered a disease--not a moral failing” (105-106). Obesity is a major health problem in the United States. As displayed in the documentary, the particular problem that people need to be concerned about is that Americans are eating too much fast food with too much fat and calories beyond the suggested limit. Though obesity can be caused by genetics and medications, fast food is the leading factor. In Super Size Me, Spurlock presents problems he had to overcome when eating fast food. Not only does eating fast food all the time cause a significant weight gain, but it also causes the body to be undernourished. Fast food may be high of calories, but it does not have enough nutrients and vitamins that the body needs to function properly. Instead fast food is filled with too much fat and sodium. This is why fast food is such a major problem. Furthermore, the documentary illustrates specific problems that a person undergoes when eating too much fast food. For example, Spurlock starts to feel the effects when he decided to walk up and down the stairs to his apartment. The documentary reflects that he was too dizzy to even perform simple tasks. This also causes Spurlock to have difficulty with sleeping and depression. Spurlock would wake up with chest pains and difficulty breathing in the middle of the night. In Whole Foods, writer Richard A. Passwater states that “Obesity is a major health problem increasing the risk in almost one out of every three Americans for heart disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure,