Response Essay Assignment | Buy assignments online
Reflection
Optional
Only if you have personal experience with this issue.
How have you been impacted by this?
Otherwise, consider telling us your interest in this topic in your introduction and by
wrapping it up in the conclusion.
Stephanie Hernandez
Professor Palacio
ENC 1102
25 March 2019
STRONG RESPONSE
American adults just keep getting fatter
The article “American adults just keep getting fatter”, written by Matt Richtel and Andrew Jacobs in the New York Times, talks about obesity and its increasing rate. Obesity is a medical condition that occurs when a person carries excess body fat that might affect their health. The authors address the shocking increase of obesity in Americans within a decade and the increased risk to their health. The article shows a picture of a McDonald’s menu underneath the title ‘American adults just keep getting fatter’, which I think is a great representation of obesity in America because fast food industries are the leading cause of obesity in America today, therefore I think it’s asuitable beginning to the article. The main reason why Americans are becoming obese and that is due to the amount of food intake they are consuming. As stated by Dr. James Krieger in the article “most people know that being overweight or obese is unhealthy, and if you eat too much that contributes to being overweight”, “but just telling people there’s a problem doesn’t solve it”.The authors try to convince the readers on the importance of this health condition by citing surveys and negotiations by the food industry demanding to help this problem. The article uses a professional tone to inform others about the growing problem in America and refers to valuable sources.
Furthermore, the article uses many research surveys and data from reliable sources like Euromonitor, a market research company, and medical professional’s research studies, to prove the facts they know about obesity. For example, they stated, “fast food sales in the united states rose 22.7 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to Euromonitor while packaged food sales rose 8.8 percent”(Richtel), this was important to mention because it makes reasoning as to why the percentage of Americans with obesity has increased. The article then continues to present their concern forthe youth with obesity, which has increased tremendously as well. They cited Dr. William Dietz, director of the stop obesity alliance at George Washington University, “I’m worried about it for sure, but we need two more years of data”, I think this was necessary to mention because it tells the readers that they aren’t giving distorted information but rather letting the readers know the research is incomplete.
Moreover, the authors of the article talk about obesity in its entirety, and how there has been a large increase throughout the years in the United States. As stated in the first sentence of the article, “new data shows that nearly 40 percent of them were obese in 2015 and 2016”(Richtel), I believe this was a great way to start the article because of it goes straight into the main idea of the article. There have been many different proposals to help solve this problem. For example, the article states ” Trump administration has proposed rules favored by major food companies that would limit the ability of the United States, Mexico, and Canada to require prominent labels on packaged foods warning about the health risks of food high in sugar and fat”(Richtel), I believe this was a great statement to add to the article because it’s evidence of what the United States is doing to regulate and control the widespread of obesity throughout the country.
In addition, throughout the article, the authors constantly use logos and ethos, although theydo not use pathos because they do not create any emotional attraction to the topic. The article talks about the statistics with obesity and the potential proposal to help solve the solution. Therefore, the need for emotions was not necessary. On the other hand, the authors use ethos because they are constantly citing research that has been tested by experts in the field, which allows the audience to trust the facts said in the article. Logos is used because the article offers credible evidence by providing the readers with facts and statistics
In conclusion, this article was well put together and clearly understood. The authorsprovide accurate information that allows the audience to analyze the situation in America. Obesity is a growing problem and I believe this article could try to help others realize the epidemic in the United States. As mentioned in the article “public health experts said they were alarmed that efforts to educate people about the health risks of a poor diet do not seem to be working” (Lennihan). Therefore, after reading the article there may be a chance people want to change or help the problem.
Reference
Richtel, Matt, and Andrew Jacobs. “American Adults Just Keep Getting Fatter.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/health/obesity-us-adults.html.
