Fed Up - The Documentary

The movie “Fed Up” is a documentary on obesity and how it is perpetuated in the United States. The movie examines why Americans are obese and how it is a trend that has been taught and passed down through the generations. Although interesting, the documentary was not much of a surprise. It is alarming however to see some hear some of the statistics that are talked about and how the general opinions of the public are not completely accurate compared to scientific studies produced that show obesity is not as simple as “eat less, exercise more” (Fed Up).

At the very beginning of the movie there is a portion where they discuss the opinions of people towards obesity and they talk about the tests performed on mice. Mice who are larger eat the same as mice who are not but are less active after they eat (Fed Up). This finding triggered the belief that more exercise leads to a slimmer figure, which is not true. I have a relative who is very active, she walks every evening after dinner and plays sports. She continually struggles with weight control issues and is far more active than some of my friends who are significantly more fit. Although age is a bit of a factor in that comparison, the reality is if being active was all that was involved in managing weight then my relative would be lean and fit where some of my friends would be quite the opposite. One of the statistics given in the movie is that between 1980 and 2000 memberships for fitness clubs doubled as did obesity (Fed Up), clearly the idea that being more active is not the solution to obesity.

Two out of three Americans are overweight or obese (Fed Up) and that is startling to hear. I didn’t really notice this until I heard the statistic in the movie and then went out shopping later. Obesity is so common in our society it is almost strange to see someone who is not. I feel like there is a bit of social conditioning behind that where we have learned to accept it as normal and overlook the idea that it is not healthy. People struggle with it in secret most the time and because the common perspective is inaccurate, they are fighting a battle they probably won’t be able to win.

Obesity is on the rise globally (Fed Up) not just in the United States and it is following the fitness trend (Fed Up). This is a really interesting fact. I have always been led to believe that obesity is an “American problem” and not so much a global issue. When that is coupled with the idea that it is increasing as people’s interest in fitness increases it is a bit shocking. However; I did have one thought on the statistic being used. The fitness trend may be on the rise and so are memberships to gyms and health clubs but it would be really useful to also have the statistic for how many of those memberships don’t get used. That could be taken a step further and be explored by asking out of the people who don’t use the memberships how many are obese? I think we would find that more overweight people are likely to actually go to fitness clubs than people who already consider themselves fit.

Infants are being found to be obese (Fed Up) which is not only shocking but at first thought makes no sense. But when the movie starts analyzing the food and the types of calories, we intake the picture becomes a lot clearer. To burn off the calories found in a 20oz coke would require 1 hour and 20 minutes on a bicycle (Fed Up). This is because all calories are not equal. When a natural food is eaten it contains a balance of nutrients which include fiber. This slows the absorption of the food into the liver and allows your body to burn the energy. When food that is high in sugar and contains no fiber is eaten your liver intakes all the calories at once. Because there is no way to burn that amount of sugar off immediately, the liver turns it into fat. Infants consume either their mothers’ milk or formula, both are liquid and both are high in sugars. It makes sense to me that if the infant can absorb the added bad calories either through the mothers’ milk or by ingesting more formula than is intended. If a parent were to decide to give a young child soda it will have the same effect producing fat cells rather than absorbing slowly and being burned off.

“Fed Up” is an informative and eye-opening documentary about obesity and its causes. I have learned from “Fed Up” that it really is important to watch what it is that I intake in my diet. I found a lot of the facts about the causes of obesity shocking and the information on the difference in the types of calories and why they effect our bodies in the ways that they do to be eye opening. I had always thought that low fat food was a healthier option but now I see that the calories have just been replaced with sugar.

Sources

Soechtig, Stephanie. “Fed Up”. RADiUS-TWC, 2014.