Persuasive Speech Outline Example
Specific Purpose: To persuade parents of the importance of elementary age children eating healthy at home
Introduction (Attention Step)
Attention getter: As a child, you may remember trips to the grocery store with your parents. On these days, you probably begged and begged your mother for that one box of Twinkies. The idea probably never crossed your mind that one day those Twinkies could have the potential to affect your lifetime health. As a parent, you want your child to be successful in everything they do, but that can’t happen if your child is suffering from being overweight. Imagine your child sitting at the doctor’s office, and being told that they can’t participate in sports because their weight puts them at risk for life-threatening diseases. A parent never wants to be put in that situation, so now is the time to start introducing healthy eating habits to elementary age children.
Relevance: According to Childhood Obesity Facts, from 1980 to 2012, the percentage of children aged 6–11 years old in the United States who were obese increased from 7% to nearly 18%. In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. One day we all will be parents taking our kids to the grocery store spending hundreds of dollars trying to make our kids happy buying the food they want. Therefore, we should become educated on how certain types of foods will affect young children in many ways mentally and physically.
Credibility: Over the past few months, we have all volunteered at an organization that directly impacted elementary age students and their eating habits. We learned the importance of foods that directly affect the development of young kids.
Thesis: Today we will discuss how important it is to buy the right foods for your young growing children and what we learned by volunteering.
Preview: In order to persuade parents of the importance of healthy eating habits in their children, we will discuss the growing number of obese children, explain ways to fix this increase, and show why this is such an important issue among children. Finally, we will urge parents to take action and start implementing healthy eating habits into their own homes.
(Transition: First, let’s talk about the importance of healthy eating habits in children and the effects of obesity on children.)
Body
- Need
- There is a need for healthy meals at home for kids in elementary. According to huffingtonpost.com, over 76% of teachers say that kids come to school hungry on a daily basis.
- Binge-eating disorder is eating large quantities of food in a short period of time and this disorder is one of the main causes of obesity.
- The children that are going to school hungry are suffering from this disorder because they only get to eat at school.
- With over three-fourths of children going hungry at home, this disorder will continue to spread across the United States.
- What are the effects of obesity or lack of nutrition on young children?
- The students attendance and participation suffer at school
- Depressive symptoms
- Behavioral and learning problems
- According to obesity.org, they are 5 times more likely than normal weight children to be obese as an adult
- Childhood overweight is regarded as the most common prevalent nutritional disorder of US children and adolescents, and one of the most common problems seen by pediatricians(“Childhood Overweight”, 2014).
- This statistic shows that this disease needs to be addressed among parents with young children.
(Transition: One day you will be a parent and your child could be suffering from this preventable disease. With the numbers rising and a need for change among parents, it is now important that parents become educated about this issue. Next, we will tell you, as a parent, what you can do to create healthy eating habits at home.)
- Satisfaction
- You don’t have to be a gourmet chef to be able to make a healthy meal for your children at home. A simple, easy, and healthy meal with the correct nutrients will do the job.
- According to healthguide.org, there are many ways to establish a healthy eating pattern in your home.
- Let your children get involved in grocery shopping and preparing meals
- Pack your pantry with healthy snacks
- Start your kids day off with a healthy breakfast
- Cook more meals at home rather than eating out every night
- According to fitness.gov, there are certain nutrients in food that you need to try and avoid when preparing a meal
- Cut down on the amount of sugar in your children’s food
- Kids need healthy fats, but not too much of them
(Transition: Now that we know how to establish healthy eating habits, let’s talk about the benefits of healthy young children.)
- Visualization
- A parent devoting their time to instilling good eating habits in their young children is a stepping stone to improving the overall child’s health in the long run. According to obesity.org, obese children are more likely to be obese as adults; hence they are at increased risk for a number of diseases including: stroke, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers.
- A healthy, young child is at a decreased risk of developing low self-esteem and getting bullied their classmates at school.
- Children that are overweight are more than likely to develop psychological issues that hinder the health of young children (“Childhood Overweight”, 2014).
- Children feel like they can run around and play with their friends, which is especially important in elementary age kids.
- If parents do nothing to improve their child’s eating habits at home, then society will continue to see kids suffer from this preventable disease.
(Transition: We know that obesity among young children is on the rise, so now we must rise to the occasion and take action to ensure a better future for these children.)
Conclusion (Action Step
Review: In this speech, we have discussed the effects that poor nutrition has in elementary age children, the rise of child obesity numbers, how to prevent obesity in children, and why it is important for parents to actively work to lower these numbers. Lastly, we are asking you to rise up and do something today to help this issue.
Restate Thesis/Call to Action: By volunteering in food service and child care facilities, we have all witnessed how obesity and hunger are both growing problems in children. Now that you are educated on the growing problem and know how to initiate a healthy medium between hunger and obesity, we are asking that you, as students, take action and do something to help.
Closer: Obesity in children is a rising epidemic in our world today, and that won’t stop until parents realize the dangers that come with obesity in children. It all starts with educating parents about the importance of healthy eating habits in their children. Even if you are not a parent yourself, we all have parents and know others who have children. Help educate these parents on the importance of at home health for their kids. If you don’t say anything, they may never know that they are enabling their child to add to the obesity rates in America and ultimately give their children life-long health risks in the process. I challenge you to speak up about this growing issue so that America’s children will live longer and healthier lives as a result.
References
Childhood obesity facts. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
Childhood overweight. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.obesity.org/resources/facts-about-obesity/childhood-overweight
Goldberg, E. (2015). A whopping 76% of teachers say kids come to school hungry. Here’s What’s Being Done. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/04/public-schools-breakfast_n_6794012.html
Paul, M. W., Segal, J., & Robinson, L. (2016). Healthy food for kids. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/nutrition-for-children-and-teens.htm
President’s council on fitness, sports & nutrition. (2012, March 14). Retrieved from http://www.fitness.gov/eat-healthy/how-to-eat-healthy/