By Staff
As a sports writer you spend a lot of time on the road which means you spend a lot of time eating fast food.
So when I sat down last night and watched Super Size Me I got quite a shock.
Morgan Spurlock's documentary took a look at how eating fast food can damage your health.
For those of you who do not know anything about this movie, let me give you the basics.
Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days.
He pain-stakingly documented everything he ate and kept track of his health with three doctors.
Spurlock also worked with a health club to monitor his body while he worked through the month.
The results were staggering.
The doctors knew that he would gain weight and that he could develop higher cholesterol, but they never expected to find out that he would damage his liver in the process.
I am not condemning McDonald's or the fast food industry and neither was Spurlock.
In fact, many things have changed in the fast food industry since the movie first aired.
America is more aware of how important it is to eat healthier and fast food places have introduced many healthy choices for their customers.
But this movie certainly makes you stop and think.
Just think, since you were a kid how many times your family stopped and ate fast food.
Think about how many times sports teams stop at restaurants on the way back from a road game and eat fast food.
America has a weight problem and that is a documented fact. Children in this country are becoming obese at an alarming rate.
Are fast food places the cause? No.
Are fast food places contributing to the problem? Sure.
But the real cause is the parents who take their children there instead of cooking them a healthy meal at home.
The real cause is that most Americans do not get out and exercise properly.
High school athletes really don't need to be concerned about stopping for a bite to eat after the game. They have burned off enough calories during the games to compensate.
But me, like most Americans, do need to be concerned. We need to take a serious look at how we eat and how we exercise.
If you haven't watched Super Size Me, then please rent it at the local video store and watch it.
It may be just what you need to get that exercise program started.
I know it was a wake up call for me.