Super Size Me

I recently had a very interesting discussion with a colleague, about the rising problems of obesity in the US. What with the movie, Super Size Me, a lot of hoo-hah boils down to one factor: fast food consumption. Anyway, just a summary of Super Size Me:

Why are Americans so fat? Two words: fast food. What would happen if you ate nothing but fast food for an entire month? Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock does just that and embarks on the most perilous journey of his life. The rules? For 30 days he can't eat or drink anything that isn't on McDonald's menu; he must wolf three squares a day; he must consume everything on the menu at least once and supersize his meal if asked. Spurlock treks across the country interviewing a host of experts on fast food and an equal number of regular folk while chowing down at the Golden Arches. Spurlock's grueling drive-through diet spirals him into a physical and emotional metamorphosis that will make you think twice about picking up another Big Mac.

All this reminded me of a conversation I had with a Japanese friend not too long ago. She told me that the Japanese government (some kind of ministry) has decided to raise the height of the loop thingies (for the love of me, I have no idea what they are called) you hold on to in trains. Apparently it was due to the reason that the current generation, and the upcoming generation of kids are growing to be taller and bigger-sized than the average Japanese a few years ago, no thanks to the growing number of fast food chains in Japan. Now, my friend is rather ... err ... vertically-challenged, thus you can imagine her chagrin when she heard of the news.

This brings to mind a thought - even the Japanese are growing in size (they are stereotyped to be rather small in size ... well, most of them anyway), apparently due to fast food consumption.　It's a well-known cliché that the Japanese are rather small in size. Not anymore.

However, my colleague did bring up an interesting point - we Malaysians consume fatty foods too, such as the much coveted nasi lemak, roti canai, char koay teow, etc. Look at the amount of grease which is in these foods, and I'm sure it will send health freaks running the other way. Have you ever tried patting a piece of roti canai with a paper towel? I have, and I had to use a few pieces just to soak the oil up (note that I am NOT a health freak; it was just a "health" experiment ... before I devoured the roti canai, that is).

Malaysia is well known for the vast variety of good food. In general, with that fact in mind, most Malaysians are not health freaks. I mean, hey, we like our nasi lemaks and teh tariks in the mornings, nasi kandars in the afternoon, and char koay teows in the evening just fine. Having said that, with the amount of fat consumed, why do Malaysians not have an obesity problem?

Let's return to the movie Super Size Me for comparison. Spurlock had to consume only McDonald's fast food for a month, and he was to SUPERSIZE his meal if asked. Have you ever been to an American restaurant? Have you seen the portions of food served in an American restaurant? They are HUGE. There is no way I could finish my meals in American restaurants. It's baffling how most Americans can.

This brings me to the point - it's not just the TYPE of food consumed which caused the obesity problems; it is the PORTION. It's the amount of food consumed, which causes us to blow up like a balloon. If I were to eat super-sized portions of curry mee, rendang, etc. for a month, believe me, I would look worse than Kirstie Alley post-Look Who's Talking.

Yet, I would not conclude that it is a good thing that Malaysians are spared of obesity problems, and that is all. Yes, we do not have obesity issues, but the high number of Malaysians with heart problems, diabetes, etc is worrisome. Thus, we may be consuming a regular amount of food, but the types of food we chow down are rich in saturated fats. How many of us do not have at least one family member with high cholesterol problems? Not many, I can tell. My father has very high levels of cholesterol as well, and had to take medication to curb it.

It is all about a healthy balance of the type of food AND the amount of food we consume. I believe that we can still have our delicious, pretty unhealthy Malaysian food, but in a moderate amount. Pair that with regular exercise; we should be able to curb all these health problems. Still, it would be interesting there was a Malaysian-style Super Size Me. Then we shall see which foods are really the killer here.

Having said all that, methinks I'll have a full-on-grease nasi goreng tomyam for dinner tonight. Eat, drink and be merry. Tomorrow, I shall diet.

PS: No one was forced to eat huge portions of food in the writing of this blog *munching on Doritos*