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Ashton Rich 

Chrissy Andrus 

July 27, 2020 

NUTR 1020 

Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock 

This 2004 documentary film follows Morgan Spurlock as he embarks on a project in which he eats 

only McDonald’s food three times a day over a 30 day period. Though Spurlock has no nutritional 

background, he studied film and graduated with a BFA in film from New York University's Tisch 

School of the Arts in 1993 (Morgan Spurlock, 2020) and felt the American obesity would make a 

great story. Spurlock introduces the film by first explaining a collection of disturbing statistics about 

the rising obesity epidemic here in America. He affirms that, “Since 1980, the amount of overweight 

and obese Americans has doubled, with twice as many overweight children and three times as many 

overweight adolescents,” (Spurlock, 00:01:43). He discusses how obesity has become the second 

highest cause of preventable death in the United States with over 300,000 deaths per year due to its 

associated illnesses, with smoking being number one.  

He continues by stating that each day, 1 in 4 Americans eats at a fast food restaurant and that 

while the United States of America accounts for only 4.5% of the world population, it is responsible 

for eating over 43% of the world’s fast food (Spurlock, 00:03:09). He then examines a case in New 

York in which a lawsuit was filed against McDonald’s on behalf of two overweight adolescent girls, 

blaming the company for their obesity. He refers to the rising fast food problem on a global scale, 

emphasizing the severity of this issue in America. After deciding against the girls in the lawsuit, the 

judge said something that stuck with Spurlock. He stated that if Mcdonald’s intended for everyone to 
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eat their food every meal of every day, doing so would be “unreasonably dangerous”, and the 

adolescent girls may be able to state a claim. Putting this statement to the test, Spurlock decided to do 

just that and for 30 days and ate only Mcodonald’s fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He 

observes and documents his body’s response over the next 30 days by measuring basic conditions such 

as BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. He also measures his vitamin intake, or lack thereof, and 

how his body reacted as a result.   

He continues his statistical analysis of fast food and obesity themes throughout the film, and 

further elaborates on the dangerous environment the fast food industry has created for its consumers. 

He reports on the portions served at these restaurants, and how they have been skewed to ridiculously 

large proportions. Spurlock considered advertising, and its role in the construction of our fast-food 

centered diets. He reports that the average American child sees 10,000 food advertisements per year -- 

an average of more than 27 every single day. 95% of those ads consist of sugar cereals, soft drinks or 

candy. He further emphasizes that in 2001 the direct media advertising budget for Mcdonald’s was 

$1.4 billion. Pepsi closely followed with a $ 1 billion budget. This was in sharp contrast to the peak 

year of Five a day Fruits and Vegetables advertising campaign’s budget, a mere $ 2 million. The 

problem has only increased, as Mcdonald’s spent over $ 1.62 billion on direct media advertising in 

2019 alone (Guttmann, 2020). That’s an average in excess of $4.4 million every single day! This is 

especially concerning for children, as they are more impressionable and are the target audience of many 

of these advertisements.  

He expresses that if current trends continue, 1 out of every 3 children born in the year 2000 

will develop diabetes in their lifetime. (Spurlock, 00:29:10) William Klish, head of the Department of 

Medicine at the Texas Children’s Hospital at the time, was interviewed for the documentary, and 
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affirmed that if someone is diagnosed with diabetes before they are 15, their estimated lifespan is 

shortened by 17-27 years. This still remains a prevalent concern, as the Diabetes Research Institute 

reported in 2018 that an estimated 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed among U.S. adults 

aged 18 years or older. This includes approximately 210,000 children and adolescents younger than age 

20 years ( Diabetes Statistics, 2020). The direct medical cost of diabetes had more than doubled at the 

time this documentary was filmed from 44 billion in 1997, to 92 billion in 2002 (Spurlock, 00:30:20).  

At the start of the challenge, Spurlock was 6” 2’ and weighed 185lbs, giving him a Body Mass 

Index ( BMI) score of 23.8. This falls well within a normal range, as a person is considered to be 

healthy with a BMI score between 18.5-24.9. BMI is used to measure fat in adult men and women and 

is calculated by taking a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meters) squared; a healthy 

weight for height is defined by a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9. Health risks from excess weight may 

begin when the BMI is 25 or more as this score considers the person to be overweight. A score of 30 or 

above is considered obese. (Wardlaw, Smith, Collene, & Spees, 2021). 

  His unscientific experiment, using himself as the guinea pig: eat only McDonald's for thirty 

days, three meals a day. If he is asked by the clerk if he would like the meal super sized, he had to say 

yes. And by the end of the thirty days, he had to have eaten every single menu item at least once. 

Spurlock’s health was monitored over the course of these 30 days, and many threatening observations 

were identified. After just five days of his exclusive “Mcdiet”, Spurlock was averaging about 5,000 

calories per day, double his recommended caloric intake of 2,500 calories. As a result, he gained nearly 

5% of his 185lb body weight, now weighing in at 195 lbs giving him a BMI score of 25.0. By day 

12, Spurlock was trudging forward staying true to his diet, still consuming well over 200% of his 

necessary calories. He weighed in at an alarming 203lbs, raising his BMI to 26.1, officially constituting 
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obesity. After just 12 days of eating strictly Mcdonald’s fast food, he gained over 18 lbs, ​nearly 10% of 

his body weight.  

The consequences of the diet affected more than his waistline. By days 10-19, Spurlock 

experienced daily headaches and loss of energy. His food intake was even beginning to have a great 

impact on his mood, resulting in an increase in sadness and anxiety if he had not eaten. His diet was 

directly correlated to the effect on his appetite, which is the body’s physiological need to eat (Wardlaw, 

Smith, Collene, & Spees, 2021). 

Recommended dietary allowance (RDA) refers to the average daily level of intake sufficient to 

meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all healthy people, referring to both calories and nutrients. It 

is used to evaluate your current intake for a specific nutrient. The further you stray above or below this 

value, the greater your chances of developing nutritional problems. An adequate intake (AI) is 

established when insufficient information is provided for a substance to guarantee an RDA. For 

example, the RDA for Thiamin, a water-soluble vitamin that is integral in the breaking down of 

carbohydrates and in chemical reactions that make RNA, DNA, and neurotransmitters, is 1.2 

milligrams. By day 18, Spurlock’s average intake provided by his fast food diet was .765 milligrams, 

63% below the recommended amount. Believe it or not, this was one of the key nutrients in which he 

was least deficient. With vitamins such as Niacin, which has a RDA of 16 milligrams, he was receiving, 

on average, around 5 milligrams. With Riboflavin, a key contributor to the breakdown of fatty acid 

and a major supporter of antioxidant roles throughout the body, he was barely able to consume 28% of 

his recommended dietary allowance (Wardlaw, Smith, Collene, & Spees, Ch. 12, 2021). 

Due to his lack of nutrients, Spurlock was experiencing many negative side effects, and was 

beginning to cause irreversible damage to his heart. Not only was he experiencing deficiency in these 
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essential nutrients, but in several main food groups such as fruits and vegetables. He was also 

consuming an excessive amount of several specific nutrients, notably carbohydrates and saturated fats. 

MyPlate is the current nutritional guide provided by the USDA, and recommends that half 

of “your plate” be filled with fruits and vegetables, while just over one quarter of the plate be filled 

with carbohydrates, and that those carbohydrates be whole grains while just under one quarter of your 

plate be filled with a variety of protein sources, both plant and animal (Wardlaw, Smith, Collene, 

& Spees, 2021). The majority of the food items found on Mcdonald’s menu do not meet this 

recommended standard, providing primarily only protein (beef) and simple carbohydrates, all of 

which are refined (biscuits, buns, breading, and sugar). In fact, there were only seven items on the 

Mcdonald’s menu at the time that contained no sugar. This was contributing to his excessive intake of 

calories and deficiency and nutrient deficiencies.  

By day 21 the situation had become life-threatening, as Spurlock awoke in the night with 

extreme difficulty breathing and had to report to his doctor. By the time he had reached the 

long-anticipated day 30, Spurlock had gained 24.5 lbs, had a 65 point increase in his cholesterol levels, 

his body fat percentage had risen from 11% to 18%, doubling his risk of heart disease making him 

twice as likely to experience heart failure. He also experienced much higher depression and anxiety 

levels.  

Though this documentary was produced in 2004, it is still very relevant in today’s society. I 

have previously mentioned continuing trends in diabetes patterns among both adults and adolescents 

in the United States, and excessive marketing strategies displayed by Mcdonald’s and other fast food 

restaurants. However, some steps have been made in a healthier direction. Nutritional information is 

now available both in person and online via website or mobile device at almost all fast food and local 
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restaurants, along with a wider variety of healthier options. Though steps have been made to add items 

of nutritional value to fast food menus, almost all of their unhealthy counterparts still remain and are 

consumed at a higher rate. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

obesity rates in America are higher than ever with over 42% of americans found to be obese (Roper 

& Richter, 2020). Fast food restaurants are a major contributor to this alarming rate.  

Through watching this documentary and writing this paper, I have learned the perilous 

gravity of the extensive damage fast food can cause to both your physical and mental health. Fast food 

corporations marketing and advertising strategies are a prime example of their lack of concern for their 

customers, and accurately reflects their true intentions. It has greatly motivated me to make much 

wiser decisions when it comes to choosing what to eat, and has helped me to realize that it is very 

possible to avoid fast food and in turn avoid its consequences. Though the amount of fast food 

restaurants continues to rise, they only provide the medium for which unhealthy habits are exhibited. 

We must hold ourselves accountable, and take responsibility for the value that we place on our 

nutrition, the increased quality of life good nutrition provides, and the importance that it holds in our 

lives.  

  

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Works Cited 

1. Spurlock, Morgan. Super Size Me. New York, N.Y: Hart Sharp Video, 2004. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKQGAv8gtBA 

2. Morgan Spurlock. (2020, July 10). Retrieved July 29, 2020, from 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Spurlock 

3. Guttmann, A. McDonald's: Ad Spend in the U.S. 2019. 28 July 2020, 

www.statista.com/statistics/192159/us-ad-spending-of-mcdonalds/​. 

4. “Diabetes Statistics .” Diabetes Statistics, 2020, ​www.diabetesresearch.org/diabetes-statistics​. 

5. Wardlaw, Gordon M., et al. Wardlaw's Contemporary Nutrition: a Functional Approach. 

McGraw-Hill Education, 2021. 

6. Roper, W., & Richter, F. (2020, February 27). Infographic: Obesity Rates Continue to 

Trend Up in U.S. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from 

https://www.statista.com/chart/20981/obesity-rates-on-the-rise-in-us/