Students rethink fast food

“Super Size Me,” a documentary of the impact of fast food on American culture, was shown in Sanford Hall Monday as part of a program hosted by Dr. Mike Martino, associate professor of exercise science, who spoke to students about health and eating habits.

The program, coordinated by Sanford Hall Resident Assistant Harold Mock, taught students in the Sanford Hall Honors Living-Learning Community about nutritional wellness.

Mock said the program was relevant to college students, and said Martino’s background in exercise science and nutrition made him a wonderful teacher.

“Learning at GC&SU is a holistic experience. Education is not something that stops when we leave the classroom, and it is important to embrace every opportunity for learning,” Mock said. Martino showed the students the food guide pyramid and the appropriate size of a serving.

“If most people would just make small, gradual changes in their lifestyles, health status would continually improve over time,” Martino said. “For example, students can become educated consumers by reading food nutrition labels and making wise choices, eating snacks and desserts in moderation and adding forms of enjoyable physical activity to their daily routines.”

In a recent article about the documentary “Super Size Me,” Director Morgan Spurlock stated that the concept behind the movie came to him on Thanksgiving Day, 2002 when he saw a story about two girls suing McDonald’s on the television. Director Morgan Spurlock had three rules during his McDonald’s diet. First, he could only eat what was available over the counter. Second, he couldn’t “supersize” his meals unless offered. Third, he had to eat every item on the menu once. The result was significant weight gain and the threat of a host of other health problems.

“It will be a while before I return to McDonald’s because of the extremity of the effects on the director,” student Casey Matthews said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 15 2005. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry