Discussion Topic
As we have talked about, arguments are often shared to benefit a group of people rather than just to prove that we are “right” or “win” a debate. When we engage in persuasive exercises with people who share a community with us, whether at work, in our families, at school, or in our town, we have a greater chance of success when we carefully consider the different stakeholders and how our recommendations may affect them.
Analyze different stakeholders’ positions in your argument and find one source that demonstrates an area of common ground you expect to find among the many stakeholders. Then, respond to the following prompts in at least two well-developed paragraphs:
- Share your revised thesis and tell us who the key stakeholders are. Who is affected by this issue that we don’t often hear from? What aspects of the argument do you expect most stakeholders to agree about? Identify three search terms you could use to find evidence that helps to illustrate the common ground between stakeholders. Hint: The Learning Activity “Choosing & Using Keywords”can help you figure out what search terms to use as you seek out common ground sources.
- Using the search terms above, find one source in the Purdue Global library that helps to illustrate the problem and establish common ground with stakeholders. Identify one main idea from the source you want to use and why you selected that source.
- Ask an open-ended question to classmates based on what help you need either finding common ground or doing the background research on your topic.
- Finally, wrap up your post by sharing the author’s name, the title of the source, and the link to the source.
Unit 3 Discussion Board Post
The issue that every community in the state of Mississippi is affected is obesity. Mississippi is the least healthy state, followed by West Virginia, causing staggering medical costs (due to decreased quality of life and risk of severe health conditions) and indirect costs (i.e., reduced work productivity) of billions of dollars (America’s Health Ranking, 2019). Although adults are the people most affected by this issue in the local communities due to chronic diseases like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity, there is also the issue of childhood obesity being the highest rate in the nation (The University of MS Medical Center. n.d.). (This is something that has me still undecided, do I focus on obesity in children or adults?) Still, Community leaders, local government, school board, and health advocacy groups are the best option to bring about a real change for the community’s wellbeing. The most known challenges that have kept from solving this problem already is the financial burden in the healthcare system and the lack of comprehensive and holistic clinics in schools or universities (National Academies Press. 2009). Also, the lack of funding through stakeholders and grants and the deficiency to give people the capability to eat healthily because they don’t have access to healthy food are other challenges that have kept from solving obesity.
The thesis statement I created with the help of Unit 3 Reading and Resources (n.d.) is: Holistic education, a healthy diet, and physical activity can treat obesity to prevent chronic diseases in adults and children where parents, teachers, community leaders, and the local government help overcome obesity and avoid further health issues in our local communities
Open-ended questions: Do you think that the above summary and my thesis statement are feasible even though it is now focused statewide? Will community-based programs where people learn about good eating habits, meal preparation, and physical activity will help prevent obesity and achieve a healthy weight making a healthier community?
