Good Persuasive Topics on Health

From the basic choices people make to the cutting edge of medical research, controversial health care issues make headlines every day. Everyone agrees that health is key to a productive, happy life, but that's almost the only thing about health that everyone agrees on. The areas of disagreement offer many possibilities for a persuasive speech or essay.

Many issues concerning pregnancy, birth and early childhood offer persuasive possibilities. A case can be made for or against the state having an interest in controlling risk-taking behavior of pregnant women, about the merits of hospital birth or home birth, and about many aspects of infant and child health care. Vaccinations, attachment parenting vs. letting babies "cry it out," breast-feeding and early toilet training are all areas where a little research will help you build a good persuasive argument.

Plenty of controversies surrounding teen health offer persuasive topic angles. Abstinence vs. freely available birth control, whether the drinking age should be changed, at what age teenagers should be allowed to make health decisions for themselves, and what health information doctors should be required to share with a teenager's parents are arguments for which both sides claim persuasive evidence. Find out what that evidence is, pick a side and line up your logical arguments.

The debate over whether health care is a basic human right or an individual's own responsibility can be persuasive speech fodder. So can the question of whether courts should force people to accept treatment they don't want; possible subtopics include vaccines, enforced birth control, psychiatric medication, drug rehabilitation and end-of-life care. Within the larger question of where society's rights end and an individual's rights begin, you'll find a lot of health decisions on which to write a persuasive essay or speech.

Diet controversies abound. Genetically modified crops are considered poison by some and the answer to world hunger by others. The health benefits of eating organic foods are huge or unimportant, depending on whom you ask. Some believe that obesity is always a health problem, while others disagree. Nutrition requirements for school lunches, restrictions on super-sized sodas, and vegetarianism are other topics for a lively persuasive argument.