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Do
you want to supersize yourself?
 This
is Morgan Spurlock, an American comedian who made a film called
Supersize Me. In the film, he took up the challenge of eating
nothing but McDonald's food for a whole month. He wanted to know
what effect it would have on his health.
In
just one month, Morgan Spurlock put on over six and a half kilograms
in weight. That's about the same weight as 25 large tubs of margarine!
He also said that his fast-food diet made him feel depressed, smelly
and unsexy.
The
film got everybody people talking about the fat
and sugar in fast food, and McDonald's changed its menu. Now it
offers salad and fruit as well as burgers and fries.
Fat
helps keep penguins warm
Penguins
eat oily fish, which contain lots of fat. This is stored in the
penguin's skin, acting as insulation, and helping to keep penguins
warm in the snow and ice. Unfortuntely all that tasty fat means
that penguins are a killer whale's favourite snack!
Fast
food is full of fat
 When
you eat out, do you know how much fat
you're eating? You probably know that chips contain fat, but what
about that burger, the ice-cream drink and the donuts that come
with many fast-food meals?
This
fast food meal contains 54g of fat.
The
cheeseburger contains 15g of fat. The fries contain 16g of fat.
The donuts contain 17g of fat. The ice cream
shake contains 6g of fat, adding up to 54g of fat in total.
The
figures were downloaded from the website of a popular fast-food
restaurant in June 2005. All of the figures are for regular-sized
food, not for super-sized portions.
54g
of fat is about two thirds of a single day's recommended maximum
intake of fat for someone aged 10 to 18 years old.
What
you eat affects your size
Su-mmmm-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Weighing in at an impressive 770 pounds (350kgs) Manny Yarbrough
from the USA holds the world's record for being the heaviest athlete.
He is a Sumo wrestler. Sumo is a traditional Japanese form of wrestling,
in which huge wrestlers throw their enormous weight at each other
until one of them falls over.
How
did he get so big? By eating all the time. Manny's diet is probably
quite balanced - he eats a lot of good food. But the reason for
his huge weight is the enormous amount of food he eats. Sumo wrestlers
eat enough food to feed several people, piling on the calories
all the time. They keep getting bigger and bigger. If Manny didn't
eat a balanced diet and do lots of exercise, he'd probably be very
ill.
Only
some foods are low in fat
 These
biscuits have the phrase 'Low Fat' displayed prominently on the
front of the packet.. What does it mean?
The
law says that a company can't call a product 'low fat' unless it
contains 3% fat or less. The law stops companies making false claims
about the fattiness of their foods.
The
biscuits in the picture contain less than 3 grams of fat per 100
grams of biscuit. So they are less than 3% fat. They are officially
low fat.
If
you want to check if a product is officially low fat, take a look
at the nutrition panel. Anything that contains 3g of fat per 100g
or less (3%) is 'low fat'. Anything that contains 20g of fat per
100g (20%) or more is officially 'high fat'.
| High
fat and low fat |
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|
High
fat
|
Low
fat
|
|
Total
fat, per 100g of food
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20
grams or more
|
3
grams or less
|
|
|
5
grams or more
|
1
gram or less
|
| Based
on Food
Standards Agency guidelines |
Get
loads of fat with a kids' meal!
 In
2004, a nutritionist analysed kids' meals in leisure centres, cafes
and restaurants.
She
was shocked to find that every single meal failed to meet national
nutritional standards! Over three quarters (81%) of the meals contained
too much fat.
Over half contained too much saturated
fat - the type that is bad for your heart.
The
fattiest meal of all was the one shown in the picture, with four
times the maximum recommended level of fat for a single meal.
After getting a lot of bad publicity in the newspapers, the restaurant
that offered this meal withdrew it from the menu.
Meal
deals can pile on the fat!
 Meal
deals look like a really good bargain - extra crisps, chocolate
and coke for just a bit more money. But
how much extra fat and sugar might you be adding to your lunch?
The
picture shows the least healthy meal deal found in a survey that
was undertaken during 2004. With each sandwich, a customer could
get a bottle of coke, a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar - all
for £2.95.
The
extra products in the meal deal add:
An extra 80g of sugar (16 teaspoons).
An extra 32g of fat.
An extra 790 calories.
And that doesn't even include the sandwich!
 You
need good fuel - just like a car...
Some
people say that our bodies are like machines. The argument goes
like this: Machines like cars need to be serviced regularly. If
they go wrong, you take them to a mechanic. To drive a car properly,
you have to take lessons. And if you put the wrong fuel in, eventually
it stops working properly.
And our
bodies? Well, if your body goes wrong then you take it to the doctor.
To keep a body fit, you have to use it, by walking, dancing or playing
sport. You also have to learn how to shop for good food and know how
to cook it. And if you put the wrong food into your body, eventually
it stops working properly.
Click
here to download activity sheets on the subject of fat, salt and
sugar
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