Walking the Fight of Obesity

On October 2nd, 2011 Austin will be hosting their annual "Be Well Walk" around Lady Bird Lake to promote child obesity. In the opinion section of the Austin American Statesman a statistic showed that in the Austin Independent School District, 35 percent of children from third to twelfth grade are obese or overweight. It states in this article titled "Let's Walk the Walk in Fighting Obesity in Austin" that many of these children come from low-income families. As a community the Austin Independent School district has realized what an impact economics has had on the health of their students.  The committee that has organized "Be Well Walk" has chosen 15 local nonprofit organizations to be apart of walk and to help raise money. Nonprofit groups such as ACTIVE Life; Austin Sunshine Camps; Born to Run; Camp Fire USA Balcones Council; Explore Austin; Lone Star Circle of Care; Marathon Kids, and many more. Each nonprofit organization has to raise $5,000 and register at least 100 walkers. If these goals are met the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation will be matching $5,000. 

While reading this article I was unsure of the argument until I went back and re-read through. The argument in this article is asking the hidden question; as an Austin community are we as citizens doing and or providing enough opportunities to fight the growing obesity problem? The author is speaking directly to adults in Austin in hopes they will recognize this problem in themselves and or their children. I feel that Austin is an exercise friendly city, meaning that there are many places that provide exercise for free; including Lady Bird Lake which is one of the more popular places. The path on the lake has different exercise stations  and even provides water stations along the lake. I believe that the author did a good job promoting "Be Well Walk" and addressing the obesity issue in Austin. The author used facts and different persuasive techniques to capture the readers attention. I believe that the author is pro-"Be Well Walk" and is possibly walking the walk as well.

 Obesity is a growing problem in Austin and all across the United States and is something that is not slowing down especially with how society stands economically. As a community we are joining together to make Austin a healthy city.