The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle and Nutritional Diet

Although nutrition is an important aspect to living, not everyone lives accordingly to a nutritional diet. In a world of ready-made food, it is also important to have a healthy diet. Although fast foods can be a quick and easy filling, they have no benefits for the human body in the long run. Nutritionists and doctors alike all stress the importance of maintaining a healthy regimen so that the body can function well without difficulties in the future. Sugary drinks, which are common unhealthy options have been appearing a lot more frequently in the daily meals of people.

Through the use of advertisements, the New York City Department of Health engages the populace by alerting its citizens of future potential body complications and by encouraging others to come towards healthy foods. New York City alone has seen an increase in the amount of diabetes present in its citizens over the years ("Data in Brief” 1).

In order to promote a healthier lifestyle for the people, the New York City Department of Health designed advertisements using rhetorical appeals that would hopefully affect the citizens' minds towards a healthy lifestyle.

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Realizing that diabetes is becoming prevalent in many American citizens, with 12.3% of the population with diabetes coming from New York alone, the NYC Department of Health took action in spreading awareness to the citizens through two graphic advertisements (“Data in Brief” 1). The first image flashes the words “portions have grown” in capitalized, bold letters. The second image too, in a very large font size, displays the message “68 packets of sugar” to grab attention.

Both phrases significantly deal with Logos, one of the major rhetorical appeals. According to Rhetoric Matters, Logos is the appeal to logic (Childs 13). The two images should spark reasoning inside a passerby's mind. Both images convey the logical message that if a person continues to increase his or her portions of high sugar consumption, the person will face major negative consequences. The first case of a major negative consequence to a person's body due to high sugar intake is type 2 diabetes.

The NYC Department of Health links type 2 diabetes to amputations by presenting a man in the image with only one leg; he most likely lost his other leg due to type 2 diabetes. The image also displays a line graph that links the amount of sugar intake to the severity of type 2 diabetes. The second image shares similar concerns to people who do not think about their diets. It shows a pile of sugar packets on top of soda, a standard sugary drink. It is only logical to think that those "68 packets of sugar" can only be highly correlated to obesity, diabetes, or even heart attacks. Not only can these advertisements imply logic to their viewers, but also can deliver a sentimental signal to people who understand such problems. The first image is displayed in ghastly shades of black and grey, with a block of red spread right across the advertisement. These colors are quite common in sending negative emotions to people who look at such colors.

This image deals greatly with Pathos, an emotionally-driven rhetorical appeal (Childs 19). These emotions cooperate with the fact that diabetes is an actual disease that is present in the world we live today. Crutches are visible in the back of the image, as well as a man with only one leg. A person who sees the picture could possibly be afraid of having his or her leg amputated because of consuming too much sugar. This design technique should strike a sign of caution to bystanders. Nobody wants to have one of his or her legs amputated, just because he or she consumes too much sugar. The image can go as far as to bring reminders to people who know other friends or relatives who may have gone through such body complications. On the other hand, the second image does not have a dark setting in its design. Although the two are similar in their mission and statements, the second image probably has less of an influence on people emotionally than the first image, which uses color schemes to capture empathy.

Though, the second image does emphasize the word "pounds”. In a society of high body standards, many people can be uncomfortable with the word "pound" and how it associates with body weight. Such information from both images can lead to a conclusion to a viewer's final thoughts: whether or not this information can be trusted, and if this information is relevant to type 2 diabetes. Both images represent rhetorical appeal as credible pieces of information occurring at the right time: Ethos and Kairos. Ethos is the appeal to credibility, while Kairos is knowing what is most appropriate in a given time (Childs 22). The descriptions on the images can be read as true based on the fact that it was provided by the New York City Department of Health. If anyone begs to differ, he or she can simply dial the number on the advertisement, in case of such disbelief. The New York City Department of Health, one of the largest public health agencies of the U.S., serves over eight million New Yorkers.

The agency strives to close the gap of health inequality through its innovative programs (“About DOH” 1). The advertisements also fit in this current time period. The department realizes the problems people face in the world and act upon it by delivering messages to citizens. Otherwise, there would be no need to create advertisements with such warnings. These rising conditions of diabetes prompt the department to provide basic notices to citizens. Succinctly, the advertisements constructed by the New York City Department of Health do represent important rhetorical appeals; Logos, Pathos, Ethos, and Kairos. The images send a message that stimulates emotions with factual evidence that encourages people to take good care of their bodies in a time where type 2 diabetes is becoming unusually common. Today, sugar has become a staple in processed foods, such as the addition of high fructose corn syrup. People need to become more aware of how detrimental such ingredients can be. Although it is nearly impossible to cure a disease process in a matter of days, the New York City Department of Health places an effort of concern to better the lives of its citizens by encouraging a trend that cuts back on sugary drinks through their advertisements.