Worksheet on DVD: Super Size Me! 15 points (3 per answer)
- What role does advertising play in the proliferation of fast food restaurant chains? Who is the target? Provide examples to support your answer.
Advertising builds a "good" image for fast food restaurant. Most of the advertisements are targeted at young people, since it is easier to sway their opinions, and once they believe in the image of the restaurant chain, the business gains a longer-lasting mass of loyal customers.
- What are the short term and long term side physical effects of the ‘all’ fast food diet? What concerns did the doctors have? Be specific.
Short term effects may include low energy levels, vomiting and purging, and rapid weight gain. As for long-term effects, doctors fear for diabetes, depression, cardiac disorders and eventually premature death as a result of harmful toxins in the food.
- Discuss the change in serving sizes in fast food restaurants through the years and the resulting effects.
Fast food used to be served in large amounts, such as the "Supersize" combo set of McDonalds, as a response to growing addiction to fast foods. However, after awareness began to be raised in the community, such as through the video, serving sizes decreased as a result of growing health concerns.
- What is the current situation with food in school cafeterias? How is it similar or different from the nutritional elements in fast food? What can be done to make the situation better?
In the past, cafeterias in schools used to serve food which customers would buy most: fast foods. However, these foods are very unhealthy. As a result, the U.S. governments have set up laws that ban in part some unhealthy foods and encourage healthier foods, such as baked foods instead of fried.
- Discuss the reasons that soft drinks exist in schools from the perspective of both the schools and the soft drink companies. What are the implications of this on the health/diet of the students?
Soft drinks exist in schools because they are popular amongst students, which financially benefits both the school cafeterias and the soft drinks companies. Kids and adolescents are probably the largest group of customers that consume the most amount of soft drinks. However, as soft drinks are unhealthy because they contain a excessive amounts of sugar, students' health would be negatively impacted, especially in school environments where there is less control over what and how much students drink.
