The DVD Super Size Me is about nutrition and how bad fast food is for your health. This movie was directed by Morgan Spurlock and released on May 7, 2004, but the message it sends remains valid. Each day, about 25% of Americans choose to eat at a fast food restaurant so he knew his audience was out there. McDonald’s is one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the world, operating more than 30,000 restaurants in over 100 countries on six continents. They sell their product to more than 46 million people every day.

McDonald’s appeals to children with their Happy Meals, complete with toys. Spurlock decided to do an experiment and only eat from McDonald’s for 30 days, to see how it would affect him. Before he started, he went to different doctors for medical health: a cardiologist, a  gastroenterologist, and a general practitioner. He began his gastric journey by ordering the jumbo size fries, but started feeling sick after only about 15 minutes. He continued eating freely at the restaurant – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and gained nearly 25 pounds over the course of the 30 days.

In addition to drawing attention to the inherent weight gain from a steady diet of fast food, Spurlock brought attention to other health issues associated with obesity: hypertension, heart disease, increased risk of stroke, sleep apnea, impaired fertility, and others. “This movie made feel like I need to eat healthier,” said Lily Baxter. In essence, this movie is a wake-up call for developing a healthy lifestyle. Since it was made nearly 16 years ago, a lot of people aren’t familiar with it, but may be more familiar with some of the movies that follow similar themes. On the other side, however, is a movie called Fat Head that works to disprove Spurlock’s experiment. It might be worthwhile to watch both movies and see which one presents the better argument.