I saw the documentary on Netflix basically because I had nothing better to do, having no hopes or expectations about it, I just knew that it was a film about child obesity, but I was surprised to see that this fact is just the first stone. If I have to define what this documentary really is about, I would say that it is a well elaborated series of arguments against USA government and their legislations; and thank you for that. Although I was expecting to see more children's testimony (because I personally like that sort of documentary) it was amazing to get that amount of information about something that's really important in our lives: what are we eating and why. The arguments are well presented, with facts and professional opinions, everything is right there. The most unbelievable aspect of this film is not what they are telling us, but the fact, that we didn't know it before. The food industry is disgusting, they controlled pretty much our lives, but putting out their food that is harmful for us.
The one thing I wish had been different is, as I said before, the lack of relevance in the children's food habits and routines. Basically, there are a couple of kids with serious overweight issues. They express their emotions in some short clips, most of the times recorded by themselves. We can see how they are struggling and suffering from their situations. I like that honesty, but I wish it could be more of that. They are what motivated this movie (allegedly) and by the end we don't even know what they are really eating, or if they were really doing something about it, because there is not a deep follow trough, just the typing a the end of the film briefly explaining where they are now. For a movie that says over an over again that the speech of diet and exercise is not the real answer for stopping childhood obesity, it is also important to highlight that if you are dealing with this problem, you have to take care of yourself and stop eating what you normally eat! Yes, there is a bigger problem, is the government, the society, but if your kid weights twice, three times his supposed weight you have to take care of it, you have to intervene. We are also part of the society, we always look next to us but not to ourselves, that's the problem, and in that sense the film fails. I was shocked when I watched that kids have for lunch, burgers and french fries or pizza, EVERYDAY. That's outrageous. Kids need vegetables, it is not a myth, not only kids, human need vegetables, we need vitamins and water. Not a bunch of junk food an later on a bunch of pills to fix the problem. Send your kids their lunch, prepare them some rice and chicken. I know it can be time consuming, but the benefits are far more relevant. I was thinking about my home situation. I live in Chile, here we don't eat processed food at schools, you either take your lunch (cooked food for home, not bread, not a snack, and actual lunch, with carbohydrates and protein, even the salad as part of it) or you get your lunch at school, but it has to be cocked there. In college, we had a cafeteria, usually there were three menus, regular, vegetarian, and healthy. Al of them were cooked right there the same day, no processed food. With your lunch you also get a salad, some juice and dessert, and there was always fruit to choose, ALWAYS, maybe there was something more fancy as well, but oranges and bananas were always at your reach. That's how we eat, and it feels okay, the main reason why the overweight rates have increased in the last few years is because fast food companies are spreading like crazy around here and more and more process products coming from the United States are in the supermarkets these days. Yes, of course a 10-year-old would rather eat a hamburger, and yes, it must be hard living in a society where everything seems to be processed food, but we are the adults, not them, we have this information, they have no idea, let's take a step further. As I read in another review, this is the documentary that every parent should watch.
The one thing I wish had been different is, as I said before, the lack of relevance in the children's food habits and routines. Basically, there are a couple of kids with serious overweight issues. They express their emotions in some short clips, most of the times recorded by themselves. We can see how they are struggling and suffering from their situations. I like that honesty, but I wish it could be more of that. They are what motivated this movie (allegedly) and by the end we don't even know what they are really eating, or if they were really doing something about it, because there is not a deep follow trough, just the typing a the end of the film briefly explaining where they are now. For a movie that says over an over again that the speech of diet and exercise is not the real answer for stopping childhood obesity, it is also important to highlight that if you are dealing with this problem, you have to take care of yourself and stop eating what you normally eat! Yes, there is a bigger problem, is the government, the society, but if your kid weights twice, three times his supposed weight you have to take care of it, you have to intervene. We are also part of the society, we always look next to us but not to ourselves, that's the problem, and in that sense the film fails. I was shocked when I watched that kids have for lunch, burgers and french fries or pizza, EVERYDAY. That's outrageous. Kids need vegetables, it is not a myth, not only kids, human need vegetables, we need vitamins and water. Not a bunch of junk food an later on a bunch of pills to fix the problem. Send your kids their lunch, prepare them some rice and chicken. I know it can be time consuming, but the benefits are far more relevant. I was thinking about my home situation. I live in Chile, here we don't eat processed food at schools, you either take your lunch (cooked food for home, not bread, not a snack, and actual lunch, with carbohydrates and protein, even the salad as part of it) or you get your lunch at school, but it has to be cocked there. In college, we had a cafeteria, usually there were three menus, regular, vegetarian, and healthy. Al of them were cooked right there the same day, no processed food. With your lunch you also get a salad, some juice and dessert, and there was always fruit to choose, ALWAYS, maybe there was something more fancy as well, but oranges and bananas were always at your reach. That's how we eat, and it feels okay, the main reason why the overweight rates have increased in the last few years is because fast food companies are spreading like crazy around here and more and more process products coming from the United States are in the supermarkets these days. Yes, of course a 10-year-old would rather eat a hamburger, and yes, it must be hard living in a society where everything seems to be processed food, but we are the adults, not them, we have this information, they have no idea, let's take a step further. As I read in another review, this is the documentary that every parent should watch.