The boldness of this essay's title alone creates an emotion.  Not only does childhood obesity threaten the youth of America, it threatens national security.  Pathos or sympathy, is a powerful tool whenever making an argument.  As people read this essay, they will begin to understand there is a direct correlation between American's weight, and our countries overall safety.   Through the use of pathos, the author successfully educates readers on the severity of the obesity crisis in America; this is created by his sense of urgency, strong examples, and his personal knowledge of the crisis at hand.  

Christeson compares a health condition in American children to the fall of the United States.  Referring to childhood obesity, he states, "An epidemic is spreading across the world" (Christeson).  This type of disastrous language conveys a serious sense of urgency.  One in four young adults cannot serve in the United States military due to being overweight or obese (Christeson).  This is an alarming statistic.  If nearly twenty-five percent of all young Americans cannot serve solely on the factor of weight, how is the United States expected to protect itself.  In the military, one is expected to endure grueling days of training in order to be prepared for possible military combat.  In result, the fact that one in three American adults are deemed medically obese causes there to be question as to what will happen if the number rises.  The way that the author presents these facts on the United States being incapable of having an adequate armed force, causes the reader to relate this problem to a country wide issue.  Many people who're not themselves overweight, might not associate obesity as a threat to them or their lives.  Christeson has a strong logos approach here.  Even the Americans who aren't obese, can deduct that a third of people exempt from the military is a pretty big deal.  That only leaves two-thirds of all Americans able to enlist and even then there are many other  restraints on who can and cannot join the armed forces.  Whenever the author blames obesity for the country not being militarily secure, that opens some eyes.  Obesity is not only causing the military to loss possible recruits, it is causing a monetary loss.  The author is not only creating pathos, they're establishing ethos through all of the throughout statistics.  By stating the military spent over half a billion dollars last year alone on weight related injuries in training, gives the writer the credibility to make their claim (Christeson).  

We know of the author's situated ethos before even reading this essay, by learning of his past occupation.  The opening paragraph states that William Christeson is affiliated with a Readiness group made up solely of retired officers in the military.  This is a national non-profit organization that focuses solely on the children of America and how their health will later effect the United States military.  So this information somewhat presents what Christeson's stance is.  Not only does this shed light on his stance, but also his virtue.  He is a retired military officer, this suggest seniority and wisdom between both his age and knowledge acquired during his time as an officer.  He then uses his previous career to associate himself with safety.  Military officers are put in place to protect America and the people who live in it.  Even now that he is retired and writing, that ethos is still apparent.  The reader could be persuaded to believe that his sole intentions are to protect the country.  All of his suggestions as to how to fix the country are long term.  None of which fix the problems of right now.  

Christeson states that the United States is the only country with a childhood obesity problem to the sort of extent, this creates a sense of panic with the reader.   Creating this panic is a direct example of pathos.  If the US is the only country facing this, it makes it weak.  The thought of a weak nation strikes fear into people.  Playing off of this established fear, Christeson then logically presents his plan to fix the crisis.  Writing in such a way, provokes readers to care about the subject at hand.  They then trust this author's knowledge on the topic because of his previous experiences and current position in the non profit organization. Not only does his knowledge present virtue, but his clear passion for this country and its children creates goodwill towards the readers.  He presents them with upfront knowledge on the issue, and then proceeds to establish ways of fixing this epidemic. The author compares the amount of unhealthy foods consumed by kids at school to the weight of a military fighter plane, and this creates logos.  This comparison backs the central argument of the paper.  The military will continue to see a drop in potential recruits until healthy eating habits are introduced to children at young ages.  Not only does the author want to introduce healthier options, they want to eliminate all of the bad ones.  He present statistical evidence backing this claim from a school in New York City.  Whenever the schools alone presents healthier alternatives, over time the obesity rate dropped substantially.  This statistic was specifically from New York City; a place that most Americans associate as big and a huge portion of the country.  Since the military has begun to see this rise of obesity in recruits, they've begun to target children as a preventative measure.  The USDA conducted a survey and came to the conclusion that nearly half of the children in school were ingesting high calorie snacks and not getting the nutrition that they needed (Christeson).

William Christeson's ethos appeal is effective. While reading this essay, the reader feels a sense of urgency to do something because of the alarming language he uses.  American's understanding the amount of children suffering from obesity and what it will long term do to the country is exactly what Christeson wanted the reader to learn.  The more Americans that read "Junk Food in Schools Contributes to Obesity and Threatens US Security," the more that will begin to take a stand on the youth's health.  More bills and initiatives will be able to be passed as more people become aware.  His use of pathos, ethos, and logos simultaneously, helps the essay achieve it's desired outcome.

