 A US filmmaker was so intrigued by McDonald's claim its food was
nutritious that he ate all his meals at the fast-food giant for a
month.
The result? 25 extra pounds (12 kg), higher cholesterol and an
award-winning documentary of his fast-food journey, Super Size Me: A
Film of Epic Portions.
Morgan Spurlock hit the morning TV
shows on Thursday to promote his film on surviving on a McDonald's
diet, little more than a day after the company said it would end
oversized portions by the end of the year.
His tongue-in-cheek look at America's
obesity crisis illustrates the effects of gorging on fast-food fare for
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
"I felt terrible. You eat this food
and you feel great immediately, but right after you get the McStomach
aches, the McHeadaches - you get depressed," the New York-based
director said on NBC's "Today" show.
Idea
Spurlock, 33, said he first got the
idea after stuffing himself with Thanksgiving dinner in 2002. He was
lounging on the sofa at his childhood home in West Virginia when he saw
a story about a lawsuit filed on behalf of two girls who claimed
McDonald's caused their obesity. The suit was dismissed.
When McDonald's defended itself by
saying its food was nutritious, Spurlock decided to test that claim.
"I thought if it's that good for me I
should eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner," he told ABC's "Good
Morning America" show.
When he began his McDonald's binge,
he weighed 185 pounds (84 kg). He ballooned to 210 pounds (95 kg) by
the end. His cholesterol rose by 60 points.
McDonald's Super Size option, which
includes a seven-ounce carton of fries and a 42-ounce fountain soda,
has been targeted by critics as contributing to America's obesity
crisis.
McDonald's, the world's biggest
fast-food outlet, has given a cool reception to the documentary, which
won an award at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is to be
distributed across the US later this year.
McDonald's said changes in its menu
did not happen because of the movie but were rather to "support a
balanced lifestyle."
Spurlock disagreed.
"This film had a tremendous impact on
their decision to eliminate super-size portions and it is really going
to have an impact on people who see the movie on how they see their own
diet," he said.
Since going off McDonald's, Spurlock
has lost about 20 pounds (9 kg) but says the last few are proving hard
to shed.
(Reuters)
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