King-Sized Whoppers
An excellent piece of analysis from the American Enterprise Institute.
The finding: if you eat nothing but McDonald's every day and stop exercising, you get fat.
The (implicit or explicit) conclusion: therefore, the government should crack down on big, bad McDonald's.
I agree with the finding; however, I'm a little worried about the fact that fast food is being treated like "the new tobacco" (a recent issue of the journal Pediatrics makes a similar claim). I fear that it's only a matter of time before the government steps in.
And finally, here's a suggestion for any film students who might be reading: do the opposite of Super Size Me. Find someone who is overweight and willing to change their diet and exercise habits. No crash dieting or fad diets--just see what happens when they cut down their calorie intake and increase their daily exercise.
Comments (7)
It's amazing to me that they need a study to come to this kind of conclusion. I could have told you that if you sit on your duff all day long and gobble down big-mac's, you're going to be fat.
McDonald's is simply providing a service that customers demand (albeit, I really can't fathom why people choose to go to McDonald's, when Burger King and Wendy's are better). If McDonald's decided not to indulge people in their desire for fast unhealthy food, someone else would step in and fill the void.
Yes, McDonald's advertises. Yes, they want people to buy their food. No, they do not want people to die of heart-attacks. Customers who die at 50 are customers who McDonald's lost 30-some years of opportunity on. The reason why their food is unhealthy obviously stems from the fact that they're a *fast-food* operation. When people go to McDonald's, they want two things: (1) cheap food to fill themselves up; (2) and they wanted that food yesterday. These two demands make serving up healthy food impossible.
However, if we want to talk about some obesity problems in the US, I'd suggest we look at how State regulations have made food much more expensive, and how the ever-increasing inflation, taxation, and regulation has forced both partners to work.
Published: March 24, 2004 10:53 AM
Art:
Unfortunately, your fear is well founded. The government 'stepping in" is par-for-the-course from a government and ultimately a society that does not view the individual as sovereign over his or her own person and property. Most people desire to tell others what to do with their lives and property, which is indicative of an ethical system that is seriously and fundamentally flawed. The idea that government, at the most, should limit its activitiies to punish the initiation of violence or the use of fraud in interpersonal relations is sadly held by very few people.
Published: March 24, 2004 10:53 AM
I am waiting for government to use the excuse: "We need to regulate people's diets to control Medicare costs." One regulation begets another. The same sort of reasoning is used to require the use of helmets, air bags, etc.
Published: March 24, 2004 12:37 PM
The good news is that the "Burber Bill" passed congress, insulating fast food chains from tobacco style lawsuits. The bad news is that McDonalds has already moved to stop offering their super-sized menu options. Dammit, I liked my super-size fries!
Published: March 24, 2004 10:01 PM
Art: Someone should've been following me around with a camera last year. As pertains to the topic, I did precisely two things differently during 2003: I cut down slightly on my meal portions and snacking, and I worked at a job that required moderate, but not exhausting, physical exertion.
I lost over 80 pounds.
Published: March 25, 2004 10:05 PM
Television advertising has more to do with fast food franchise success than commonly understood.
Methods used by advertisers is to push sound and light, in order to hypnotise and inbed the message in the subconscious.
We've got a lost generation growing up diabetic because of the 30 second ad. Another generation is growing heavily in debt via the same advertising techniques.
Those that want to suit the Fast Food restaurants are looking in the wrong place. Find the culprits on Madison Ave, New York.
Published: March 27, 2004 6:33 PM
Will people buy two large fries because they can't supersize anymore? Will people who never would have supersized before start doing it just because they won't be able to soon? The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
Jerry, isn't this the same insane reasoning they are using to go after McDonald's? "The flashy ads made me fat!" Maybe we should regulate fast food ads. Only 1.5 grams of fat should be allowed per commercial.
I think Mises.org is making me fat because I can't get enough of this website and it's cutting into my excercise time!
Published: March 29, 2004 7:10 PM