personally, i do believe it is a schools job to educate our children about good eating habits, just like we expect our school to educate our children about sex, physical education, art, music or any other subject that is pertinent to thier success in the future. but, nutrition education is sort of swept under the mat by school because they tell the students "eat healthy" and then supply them with never ending amounts of BAD food! its a little hypocritical, if you ask me. but, if you look at it from the schools perspective, they are probably getting huge kickbacks from these places to bring in the fast food. the kids don`t know any better. and then they grow up into obese, poorly educated (nutritionally speaking) adults who have been conditioned to this food. the guy in supersize never disagreed that the girls law suit was frivolous. and if you ask me, it is! BUT, i am GLAD those girls stood up and brought suit, because look at what the spin off from that has done to cast light on the CRAP they are peddling to our chldren and to US! given what mc donalds and other fast food places are serving, its not like he even had to TRY to make them look bad, the food does that ALL BY ITSELF! and, i do believe that the film has had a lasting POSITIVE impact on what the general public eats, and what fast food establishments will serve. also, the film brought up the fact that the US government puts in a very limited budget towards nutrition education, but fast food places have billion dollar budgets to reel us in. what is your child more likely to ask for, a carrot or a greasy, food color filled happy meal?? think about it.

In the lastest article of the New York Times Under Health and Science, clearly McDOnald's is no longer liable for anything. They do not have to implement the fact that their food is harmful. Obviously YOU DON'T get my gist; I'm not defending McDOnalds. I simply see no use in this movie pertaining to myself. Why? (Like I said, this is MY TAKE AND NO ONE ELSES? How many times do I have to repeat this???) Because i'M WAS NEVER AN IDIOT ENOUGH TO EAT IT 3 TIMES A DAY. As for the girls who sued, the courts dismissed it completely. SO there goes his liability- he's simply finding a fast food chain to pick on. I'm not supporting McDOnalds, but I wouldn't support the movie either.

WHose choice was it? Again, you seem to support the fact that the average consumer is a pretty dumb ambivalent choice maker. "SUper size it , sir?" "Why of course! He didn't warn me about the calories, so its okay! I don't ever need to check by myself!"

Look, Meeegun, read everyone else's beside mine. I'm not the only one who emphasizes choice; I'm a smart consumer. Even when I was in elementary school, I even told my friends about the nutrient values in french bread pizza. I know he brings attention the school cafeterias, but what was that going to do? Only educate the people who didn't know anythign about it before. Great, good for those who don't bother to check what their kids are eating. Look at User LLV (LInda) 's kid- she even taught him SUGAR CONTENT. He's 6 years old and he knows how much sugar he's supposed to be getting. How would I ever thank this movie if it never pertained to me? I'm simply arguing that it didn't serve a purpose for those who obviously did their hw. For those who didnt, it's a culture jargon to say "shock value" because it delivers an unexpected yet cheap take on something the audience didn't know- and the audience who obviously thought this movie was a "heads up" are the ones who didn't bother researching before. We all start at some point, but many of us aren't "sure, supersize it since you offered" people.

Again, do average joes require themselves to eat everything on the menu at least once? Maybe some, but definitely not the majority! Does the target audience feel the need to experiment? There are no rules when it comes to your own diet.

McD's wanted their target consumers back if they were, at all convinced by the movie. The movie had merit ONLY for those that turned heads. DOes it take a man eating 3 meals a day at a fast food joint and seeing the negative consequences of his actions stimulate any motivation from ME (me me me me me this was originally MY opinion about the movie and I have no idea why you are attacking my opinion) ? What a joke. I was never one of those it might even APPLY to.


Blaming health hazards on other people/companies other than yourself is justifiable but comes with a condition; you were abolutely helpless in the situation. Like ASBESTOS poisoning in a rented apartment. So I take it you think vitamin dificiencies, diabetes and weight couldn't in any way, be prevented by the individuals? No? parents couldn't give children food? For those who couldnt afford to pack lunches, they couldn't even tell their kids? People couldn't prevent weight gain by exercise and proper dieting themselves? SOMEONE GET ME A LAWYER! There must be someone else to blame besides me!

I sound like I'm defending McDOnalds only because I'm not for the movie. I said McD's wasn;t my enemy, not that they were my best friend. The fruit parfaits? I always get the tiny one, and even then, whose responsibility is it to check the grams of sugar, if youre so concerned? Seems to me you like defending the action of blaming someone else....

I live in NYC. I don't think the quantity of chains ever made me eat their more often.

I never refuted that part. And uh... I knew what crappy food was before the movie... so thats how I avoided McD's. I think the average person had the same capability.

"where's the fine print? The calorie info? Oh you don't have it? That's okay, I'll take it anyway!" It's called marketing. Wanna know how people overcome advertisements? They do their research. Yes... what it means to be the true educated consumer.

Good for you, you're glad. I'm STILL not impressed by the movie. Again, I think you picked out some very slim ideas from my critique and you mashed it into somehing else. I won't argue against what anyone said. Each statement is only suppose to represent MY opinion. I'm not the only one who feels this way. You must realize that the movie came out during a diet hype era, when south beach and atkins was exploding again. That's marketing too, isn't it? That's selling an idea, is it not? The way I see it, McDOnald's hides their info and some people don't bother to check. They see this movie and they're like "OH MY GOD. I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANY. FAST FOOD=BAD. NATION IS FAT." COngrats to those who needed this movie for that extra little tad of motivation. Unfortunately for some of us, we learned nothing knew, and we took away nothing, because it never applied to us to begin with.

They're feeding you? Wait, so they strap you down and feed you with no choice?

For kid education: No, most parents HAVE to take responsibility for their kids actions. Look at it this way, if your kid shoplifted, would you require the school to teach them about LAW? Keep in mind, many parents do place their kid's in the hands of the ever poor public educational system. That's why all the HOMESCHOOLED kids get to the national spelling bees.
If youre kid asks for a greasy happy meal and not a carrot, you are completely void out of being responsible? Look at this- IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT, YOU DO IT YOURSELF. DOn't depend on other people to set things straight. Things never work according to YOUR plans if you don;t take matters into your own hand.

I actually did re-read the thread - my comments about suing are only in relation to other peoples comments, never did I advocate it. It's only mentioned in terms of thinking it SHOULDN'T be done and that people should take personal responsibility for their actions, perhaps you should have another look? I really don't appreciate my words being taken out of context or misrepresented. I said to you I don't see anyone on this thread advocating suing - I still don't. I'm not arguing the fact that people have sued, just saying I haven't seen anyone HERE support that. I think and have thought since the suit came out that it was absolutely ridiculous. I have never said in this thread or anywhere else that I didn't. I was simply saying a few of the members seem to be getting overly hostile towards the few of us that got something from the movie and were behaving like we were advocating suing by speaking positively about the movie. In contrast to that, I have seen no one actually say "Oh yes, we should all get to sue Mcdonald's, THAT's why I'm fat! That was my whole point.

Edited to add: I don't know if it's the lack of physical cues you get with the internet or what, but all I have ever tried to say in this thread is I enjoyed the movie, thought it made a few good points, sure it is commercialized but what isn't? and that no, I don't think anyone forces you to be fat/eat Mcdonald's etc.. If it has come across any other way it was unintentional.

LOL neither did I!! I cracked a JOKE! :rofl:

And I have not seen any hostility in the thread... it's a good discussion.

I'm with you Misti, and while you sue Sara Lee, I'll sue KFC, LOL. What a big gripe fest this turned out to be.

LOL yah I could make a BIG list of people to go after!! :rofl:

I want to jump in for a second. I think Meeegan and Sotyppcial have make some interesting points regarding lunches served in our schools.

On an individual basis, if I had a child who ate unhealthy at home and then at school I would have only myself to blame. But we have to look at the bigger picture. Our school lunches ARE contributing to child obesity. And what is worse WE are paying for a lot of it. Our tax dollars make it possible for children on free and reduced lunches to eat pizza and tater tots in the same meal. Believe me when I say our kids lunches are horrible. I sit with students who regularly have this for lunch. And even if their parents and teachers had taught them to make better choices unless they brought their own lunch they are stuck eating that. Go through a lunch line and see how good your selection would be in most schools. I can tell you at my school it is nearly impossible to get a healthy lunch.

Sunday I went to an outlet mall with my husband. We hadn't planned on staying out late but the time slipped away from us. He was hungry and ordered a pizza stuffed with spinach and broccoli, cheese etc. It was so fattening. I glanced around the food court to see if there was anything for me to eat.. nothing unless I wanted a salad made with iceburg lettuce.

Ever travel in the US and try to get a decent meal? I have.
Do you have the same problems eating healthy when traveling abroad? I don't.

We have friends that come to visit regularly from overseas. They are amazed.. I mean really amazed and shocked when we travel here together.

Individually we have little right to blame or sue.. but as a nation WHAT ARE WE DOING TO OURSELVES AND OUR CHILDREN?????

Jayde - I agree with you. As a nation I think we have to take a proactive stance on educating our children. Unfortunately, not all parents will, so I wish their was some kind of basic nutrition education system, and not just in wealthier school districts. I live where I live and drive an hour to work strictly because the school here is better for my child. The schools around where I work are horrendous. I work in an urban pediatric ER and it is not uncommon to treat a 7 year old who was "jumped" at school. Just last week EMS responded to a call for an injured child and found the 5 and 7 year old drinking out of the toilet because there was no drink (except beer) in the house. While that's obviously an extreme situation, it does call to attention that all children aren't being treated well or given the education they need. That's a whole other debate, but I do think if we are paying taxes, public schools should provide the basics in education.

Misti - I apologize, I totally didn't take it that way. :o Maybe I shouldn't respond to messages after midnight. ;)

YUP... Have you ever taught a class of third graders about nutrition and good choices only to send them to the cafeteria to eat "fast food".. the only thing available and paid for by our tax dollars (my school is 95% free lunch).

It makes no sense to even have health as part of our required curriculum only to set an example by providing junk food for lunch and cutting out time for recess and PE.

But I digress ... the original post was about "super size-me"... back to our regularly scheduled program. :)

No problem! I am sorry if my comments came across as sarcastic. Cybercommunication does not always come across as intended! :hug:

I found the VHS version of this in the bargin bin at Big Lots. It's a good documentary and it does make one rethink eating McDonalds or any fast food EVER again.