Happy Meals? (South China Morning Post, 2004)
Happy meals?
South China Morning Post [Hong Kong] 03 June 2004: 13.
One film that is making waves in the United States is Super Size Me, a documentary about what happens when the actor-director eats McDonald's food for one month without exercising.
What happens is that his weight balloons 11kg (it takes him 13 months to lose it), he vomits, suffers depression, fatigue and chest tightness. Certified fit by doctors at the start of his binge, he winds up a puffy, physical wreck at the end.
Shortly before the documentary was released, McDonald's in the US quietly dropped its "Supersize" portions and introduced the allegedly healthy "Go Active" meals. But it seems the message has not percolated down to its overseas branches, because here in the Philippines, the fast-food behemoth is right now promoting its products as ideal for pregnant women. Its advertising campaign features a high-powered pregnant entertainer, Sharon Cuneta. A huge billboard along Edsa, Manila's main thoroughfare, has a picture of Cuneta looking lovingly at a lineup of McDonald's entrees and a Filipino caption that, roughly translated, reads: "How delicious it is to crave McDonald's when you're pregnant." Now, from what I remember from my days as a health reporter, a pregnant woman needs a lot of folic acid, found in green and leafy vegetables. When she eats McNuggets, she is instead going to get a substance called dimethylpolysiloxane, described as an "anti-foaming agent" and TBHQ, a "stabiliser". One appalled American judge called McNuggets a "McFrankenstein creation".
Cuneta has probably not heard of a World Health Organisation technical report that found a probable link between obesity and fast foods, and goes on to say that "fast-food restaurants, and foods and beverages that are usually classified under the 'eat least' category in dietary guidelines are among the most heavily marketed products".
But the main reason why nobody is taking McDonald's to task is that in the Philippines, fast foods never get the bad press they do in the US. In fact, they are seen as something of a treat. McDonald's is a relative newcomer, arriving only in 1980, but its appearance signalled the onset of a change in local eating habits. Filipinos gave up their noodles and steamed buns and started wolfing down hamburgers, sickly-sweet spaghetti dishes and fatty, crispy- fried chicken.
Already, according to the Department of Health, the number one cause of mortality in this country is heart disease, followed by vascular diseases. Both are preventable, through changes in diet and lifestyle. But given that campaigns like McDonald's go uncontested, it is unlikely that Filipinos are going to eat less fast food.
Copyright South China Morning Post Ltd. Jun 3, 2004
South China Morning Post [Hong Kong] 03 June 2004: 13.
One film that is making waves in the United States is Super Size Me, a documentary about what happens when the actor-director eats McDonald's food for one month without exercising.
What happens is that his weight balloons 11kg (it takes him 13 months to lose it), he vomits, suffers depression, fatigue and chest tightness. Certified fit by doctors at the start of his binge, he winds up a puffy, physical wreck at the end.
Shortly before the documentary was released, McDonald's in the US quietly dropped its "Supersize" portions and introduced the allegedly healthy "Go Active" meals. But it seems the message has not percolated down to its overseas branches, because here in the Philippines, the fast-food behemoth is right now promoting its products as ideal for pregnant women. Its advertising campaign features a high-powered pregnant entertainer, Sharon Cuneta. A huge billboard along Edsa, Manila's main thoroughfare, has a picture of Cuneta looking lovingly at a lineup of McDonald's entrees and a Filipino caption that, roughly translated, reads: "How delicious it is to crave McDonald's when you're pregnant." Now, from what I remember from my days as a health reporter, a pregnant woman needs a lot of folic acid, found in green and leafy vegetables. When she eats McNuggets, she is instead going to get a substance called dimethylpolysiloxane, described as an "anti-foaming agent" and TBHQ, a "stabiliser". One appalled American judge called McNuggets a "McFrankenstein creation".
Cuneta has probably not heard of a World Health Organisation technical report that found a probable link between obesity and fast foods, and goes on to say that "fast-food restaurants, and foods and beverages that are usually classified under the 'eat least' category in dietary guidelines are among the most heavily marketed products".
But the main reason why nobody is taking McDonald's to task is that in the Philippines, fast foods never get the bad press they do in the US. In fact, they are seen as something of a treat. McDonald's is a relative newcomer, arriving only in 1980, but its appearance signalled the onset of a change in local eating habits. Filipinos gave up their noodles and steamed buns and started wolfing down hamburgers, sickly-sweet spaghetti dishes and fatty, crispy- fried chicken.
Already, according to the Department of Health, the number one cause of mortality in this country is heart disease, followed by vascular diseases. Both are preventable, through changes in diet and lifestyle. But given that campaigns like McDonald's go uncontested, it is unlikely that Filipinos are going to eat less fast food.
Copyright South China Morning Post Ltd. Jun 3, 2004
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