Fed Up? The movie -- comments?

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    mom2wessarah wrote: »
    Wow, lots of people think the movie is crap. However, what I took away is that sugar is bad in the amounts we, Americans, eat it now. There is lots more sugar in food than most people know. In the "low fat" craze, sugar replaced fat. If you look on a food label, it doesn't say the % of daily allowance for the sugar content (like you do for other nutrients).

    I also think the advertising targeted towards children isn't fair. But as a mom, I don't have an issue saying "no" to my kids when they asks for sugary cereals, etc.; you'll rarely find a pop-tart in my house unless it's for a special dessert. You don't find potato chips either ("can't eat just one").

    Now I do have a weight problem, as does my husband (it's portion control with us). But I try very hard with my children to teach them that treats are for sometimes; most everything is ok in moderation. I'm happy to say that so far, my 11 year old and my 6 year old are very healthy, active children.

    It's because the fockumentary has been picked apart by tons of reputable scientist. IIRC, one of the articles i read pointed out that sugar hasn't changed much over the past 60 years, but calories has increased a lot. So it's not sugar.

    But as a parent, you should be looking to make solid choices for you and your children 80-90% of the time, but you can have treats as well.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    mom2wessarah wrote: »
    Wow, lots of people think the movie is crap. However, what I took away is that sugar is bad in the amounts we, Americans, eat it now. There is lots more sugar in food than most people know. In the "low fat" craze, sugar replaced fat. If you look on a food label, it doesn't say the % of daily allowance for the sugar content (like you do for other nutrients).

    I also think the advertising targeted towards children isn't fair. But as a mom, I don't have an issue saying "no" to my kids when they asks for sugary cereals, etc.; you'll rarely find a pop-tart in my house unless it's for a special dessert. You don't find potato chips either ("can't eat just one").

    Now I do have a weight problem, as does my husband (it's portion control with us). But I try very hard with my children to teach them that treats are for sometimes; most everything is ok in moderation. I'm happy to say that so far, my 11 year old and my 6 year old are very healthy, active children.

    My impression of the segment in which they were talking about advertising to children is that they edited it to make it seem much worse than it is by running clips of ads in quick succession. Even with all the ads aimed at children, it is the parents who are buying this stuff.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I'm actually interested in seeing this movie at some point just because I'm interested in this kind of stuff...but you have to be careful with "documentaries"...you have to be able to look beyond the bias as most "documentaries" are well presented propaganda instruments.

    That is not to say that there aren't any truths, just that often truths are exaggerated and/or data/information is otherwise manipulated to arrive at an already pre-determined conclusion.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I haven't watched it yet, but I did read the reviews for it on Netflix. A lot of the them say that it feeds into the victim mentality and takes away personal responsibility.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    mom2wessarah wrote: »
    Wow, lots of people think the movie is crap. However, what I took away is that sugar is bad in the amounts we, Americans, eat it now.

    Well, I'm an American, and I don't eat that much added sugar (and certainly none I'm unaware of). This was true when I was getting fat too.

    So I think it's just a new version of the scapegoating--was fat, now sugar.

    And perhaps it allows people who also have problems with their weight (and some who don't) feel smug about what others are supposedly doing. Kind of like a talk show or like those BBC shows that seem to portray all Americans as 600 lbs.
    But I try very hard with my children to teach them that treats are for sometimes; most everything is ok in moderation. I'm happy to say that so far, my 11 year old and my 6 year old are very healthy, active children.

    This seems sensible. It's how I was raised in the '80s and what my friends' children seem to be taught today.
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