Question

After watching the “Super Size Me” video directed by Morgan Spurlock, answer the following in an informal, NO LONGER than 2-3 page paper. The paper should be typed. 1. What social practices or behavioral risk factors are identified that affect disease development? (4 Minimally) 2. What disease(s) did the producer develop or was at risk for developing? (talk about at least 3) 3. How were the above diseases diagnosed? (What diagnostic tests/labs) 4. What did you think of the movie as it relates to health? You need to type out your report. Please do it in paragraph form and be specific and thorough in your discussion.

Answer 1

Answer 1: The social practices or behavioral risk that are identified in the documentary "Super Size Me" that affect disease development are -

- Constant access to cheap fat laden food.

- Consumption of less organic food. Even the food market is full of more processed food than the healthy organic food

- Negligence towards healthy and balanced diet. People tends to take more than what is required.

- Sedentary lifestyle, where the people rely on machine to do even the basic minimum work, left alone walking.

- Excess consumption of fast food

- Lack of exercise

Answer 2: The disease the producer developed are-

- Hyperuricemia

- Liver Problems

The disease the producer was at risk of developing are-

- Hypertension

- Diabetes

- Coronary Heart Disease

- Heart failure

- Gout

- Kidney Stone

- Inflammation and hardening of the liver

Answer 3: The above diseases were diagnosed by-

- Weight monitoring

- Blood Tests - CBC. RBS,

- Lipid profile

- ECG

- Liver Function Tests

- Kidney Function Tests

Answer 4: The documentary starts with focus on obesity , the trend of obesity in United States of America , and the ill effect of obesity. Around 60% of population are suffering from Obesity. And there are around 400000 deaths per year due to obesity related illnesses. The fast growing fast food chains in America are focused in the documentary. There is discussion on how the fast food companies lures the people to buy more, hence leading to consumers consuming more than the required amount. Not only consumption of Fast food, but the overall lifestyle of people where there is no exercises, less activity but more eating have led to the obesity crisis. The documentary is a must see as it shows the journey of the producer who decides to take up a complete fast food diet , three meals per day ( from MDs) for 30 days. And the results were drastic having a huge impact on his health.

Not only the adult, the fast food companies have also done a good job at luring children who most of the time are introduced to fast food at a very early age by their parents. Eating out have become a common practice in today's world. Hence even the children are predisposed to the unhealthy eating habits. This have led to conditions like diabetes at an age before 15, abnormal liver function tests, etc which eventually leads to major health problems when they become adult.

The documentary have done a good job in bringing in light some major issues related to Obesity, also at the same time showing the 30 days transition of the Morgan Spurlock. Along with the 30 day super size journey, there are good amount of information regarding the unhealthy consumption of food and how it impacts the health. There is a good amount of humor in the documentary. And at the end the documentary is well summarized leaving the choice of health to its viewers.