Position Paper #1
“Weighing Down Our Children”

Weighing Down Our Children written by Dawn Friedman is a magazine article that talks about the rising rates of child obesity. It also talks about how the parents of these children neglect the fact that their children’s weight is getting out of control. 30 percent of children ages 2 to 19 are overweight or obese in America. Furthermore the article talks about the increase in children and young adults developing “adult diseases” like Type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The article tells stories of young children and how their parents dealt with them being obese. One section includes a story of a woman whose parents told her that she was developing a weight problem and this made her self-conscious and developed an eating disorder later in life. The article also refers to how eating disorders and obesity are not being treated properly.

The article provides a bias view on child obesity. In the article it gives reasons why children are becoming obese. Some of these reasons include the fact that we are “drowning in high fructose corn syrup” as if everything we eat is covered with it or contains it. This is an over-exaggeration of the prevalence of high fructose corn syrup. Yes, high fructose corn syrup is in many of the things that people eat nowadays but there are other foods that do not contain it.

Another reason why they say children are becoming obese is that schools do not have time for recess anymore, which isn’t necessarily true. While there may not be recess as much anymore there is a certain amount of personal fitness that children have to do in school. It may not be as much as needed but the statement that there is no time for recess and this is why obesity is becoming more prominent in children is a bit of an exaggeration.

Also is states that there are no safe places for children to play after school. This is also an exaggeration because there may not be as many safe places to play safely there are still places that are safe enough for children to get out and play and get physical activity. All of these reasons are true in some way but only provide a one sided opinion. It states that these statements are completely true and that there really isn’t any other side to the story.

In the article they also state things as fact such as when they say, “no one has time to cook anymore.” This comes off as an opinion rather than a fact because it may not apply to everyone. This statement says that it does apply to everyone because it says, “no one has time…” This can be taken as a one sided argument and them stating