You Are What You Eat

Happy Meal Fallout: Stacey Irvine

Doesn’t this photo kind of evoke American Beauty? The difference is that rather than American Mena Suvari, it’s British Stacey Irvine. Also, the rose petals and titular ‘beauty’ of the former have been replaced with Happy Meal toys and heart disease in the latter.

Irvine is in the news because after collapsing at the factory where she works in Birmingham, it came out that the 17-year old has existed on an exclusive diet of McDonald’s chicken McNuggets since age 2.

Miss Irvine, who has never eaten fruit or vegetables, had swollen veins in her tongue and was found to have anaemia. If Miss Irvine were to eat three portions of [6-piece McNuggets and small fries] in a day, she would eat a third more fat and almost double the amount of salt than is recommended. But, despite being warned that she could die if she sticks to her nugget addiction, she still can’t resist the fast food.

You are what you eat. And Miss Irvine is a nugget (Scottish definition).

Definition of Nugget

There are, of course, serious consequences to this type of  habit. A less serious consequence of her craving is that “she is struggling to find places to store all the free toys and novelties that come with the meals. They currently fill four bin bags.” Hmmm…somebody should tell Irvine that there’s a thriving market for American advertising toys in Japan. She’s going to need some help with her medical bills…

Sad stuff. Read the whole article in the UK’s Daily Mail where I expect we’ll see this girl’s obituary in due time.

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