Who Stole The Cookies From The Cookie Jar

The high increase in obesity has become a very popular topic in the United States over the past decade or so, especially the increase in childhood obesity. And why shouldn't it be when a child can be considered obese at the prime age of 2?!? Let's see how Pat Hartman and the bloggers at Spark are able to convey their opinions by using different forms of rhetoric.

Throughout More Emotions, Eating, and Obesity, Hartman describes obesity as being an "addiction" more than just a normal ole medical condition. Dr. Pretlow, being a doctor that specializes in childhood obesity, hears stories from other doctors around him all the time. In basing his blog on a man such as Pretlow, gives Hartman the credentials to form such a credible post about this topic because Pretlow is "obsessed with emotional eating!" Hartman is able to really catch the readers attention with his use of Ethos, in the form of personal anecdotes, that Pretlow has heard from individuals who have gone through childhood obesity themselves. There was one individual Pretlow heard from that said she had been overweight ever since McDonald's came to her home town when she was just 9 years old. Pretlow continues by saying that "she said she was in her clinic, and nurses had brought in some dark chocolate brownies, and this pediatrician said she kept trying to stay away from them until finally she just overdosed on the whole 12 brownies on the tray. She said afterwards she was sweaty and had palpitations and turned gray, and the nurses even worried that she was having a heart attack. At that point, she said, she realized that she was just like an alcoholic, an addict in the gutter. It was a stark realization to her, what was going on." Such an extreme case gives the reader more reason to also agree that obesity can, and is caused by the having an addiction to food. This story can also be seen as using pathos because it is quite an emotional story of a woman struggling with her own self worth and self control over food in her life. Hartman also includes information from Elizabeth Hartney, who just so happens to be a journalist. Hartney says that "in laboratories full of expensive equipment, experiments have been shown that both substances produce opiates in the body, which the brain welcomes just as it does any other opiates." Hartney's use of parallels with sugar, fats, and drugs can give the reader a different understanding of how food really can be seen as an addictive substance, through the use of pathos.

In Child Obesity Research Studies and Facts, the bloggers at Spark on the other hand start their blog off with Michelle Obama's action to battle with the epidemic the country is having with childhood obesity. Michelle Obama is a very influential person today, and by using her gives Spark's blog the credibility it needs to form a good sense of ethos. Spark's also is able to give a very vivid image of just how extreme the obesity problem is in the U.S., by having charts and images of how childhood obesity has progressed over the past 30 years. Spark's uses mainly logos throughout their blog to explain the ever prevalent existence and progression of childhood obesity.

When you compare the blogs of Hartman and Spark, you find that Hartman was able to base his blog off of patients' testimonies, and the use of emotions to get the readers attention. Spark was more about giving the reader figures and numbers to persuade the reader that there is in fact a problem going on here. Hartman sees obesity as being caused by a psychological problem with food addiction, while Spark blames obesity on bad lifestyle habbits, such as poor diets and not having enough physical activity. Whatever the case, obesity has quickly become a huge problem for the children in the world today, and needs to be changed before it gets even more out of hand.