Consider Your Sources

Source 1

Section 1:

Park, Alice. “Childhood Obesity Rates Are Still Rising .” Time, 26 Apr. 2016.

Section 2:

            This article was written by Alice Park with the purpose of stating the fact that childhood obesity rates are still rising.  The author supports her claim by factual evidence.  She uses Asheley Skinner who is an associate professor medicine at Duke University.  Asheley and her colleagues found that obesity is continuing to climb based on national surveys that they analyzed over the past 15 years.  Alice Park states in her article, “In the latest survey, conducted from 2013 to 2014, 33% of children were overweight, and 26% were considered obese.”  Another fact that was used as evidence was “The prevalence of overweight and obesity increased steadily year by year from 1994 to 2014.  For overweight, it went up from 28.8% in 1999 to 33.4% and for the least severe type of obesity, from 14.6% to 17.4%.”  Alice Park uses facts from the national surveys that were conducted as evidence to prove her point that childhood obesity rates have only been increasing for many years.  The point that the author surmises to is that more coordination between doctors in the health care system and communities are needed so that a child’s environment is more conductive to healthy living.

Section 3:

            Time magazine targets an audience that consists of well-educated Americans who are middle-upper class citizens.  It attracts both males and females who are 30-35 years and older and those that are interested in world and nationals news issues/events.  The author in this specific article is targeting an audience that consists of adults and parents because she is presenting facts about childhood obesity and I think people that have children or know children would be interested in reading this article.  The author’s audience affects the tone because parents or medical professionals are most likely the group of people that are reading this article so the tone is concerned.  The format is presenting facts and backing them up with hard core evidence which should bring shock and concern upon parents or medical professionals working with children.  The author’s purpose is to inform her audience about the facts supporting the claim that childhood obesity rates are still rising.   

Section 4:

“Recent reports have hinted that childhood obesity is beginning to improve in some U.S. cities, at least for the youngest kids who are preschool age.  But for the entire population of children ages two to 19 years, the prevalence of overweight obesity continue to climb, as they have been since 1999.” 

Source 2

Section 1:

Newman, Tim. "Childhood obesity is still rising." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 26 Apr. 2016. Web. 28 Aug. 2018. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/309512.php

Section 2:

            The author of this newsletter is Tim Newman and his primary claim is that child obesity is not slowing down.  The author supports his claim using factual evidence such as statistics and data that was collected from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES).  This data showed that children aged 2-9 between the years 2013-2014, “33.3 percent were overweight,” and of those children, “17.4 percent were classed as obese.”  This data was scoured by Asheley Skinner and her team, which the author references to help support his claim.  The author concludes by stating, “Obesity is certainly not a problem that will slip away easily, and the more information that is obtained regarding the size of the issue, the more easily public health officials can decide how to handle it.”  The point the author is concluding with is that the more information that is discovered regarding childhood obesity, the better.

Section 3:

            The author’s audience is medical professionals because the journal is titled Obesity and the newsletter is found on Medical News Today.  The audience affects the author’s tone of voice due to the fact that everything presented is facts and professional opinions.  The author is supporting the claim that childhood obesity is not decreasing by using statistics and recent reports.  This newsletter is similar to the magazine article because both use factual information to support the same claim that childhood obesity is still rising.  The scientific journal presents more facts and statistics based on medical studies and research, which makes it more reliable in the sense that doctors and medical professionals are reading it and presenting their own opinions.

           

Section 4:

“This study highlights that we may need to be disruptive in our thinking about how we change the environment around children if we really want to see that statistic move on a national scale.”

“An estimated 4.5 million children and adolescents have severe obesity, and they will require new and intensive efforts to steer them toward a healthier course.”

“Studies have repeatedly shown that obesity in childhood is associated with worse health and shortened lifespans as adults.”