US Armed Forces Recruitment Concerned for National Security: 1 in 4 of Today's Applicants is Too Fat and Unfit for Military Service

High schoolers who want to join the military these days aren't qualifying for military service because of their weight. 1 in 4 applicants are turned away because they are too fat to fight.

The United States military is becoming concerned about the future strength of our armed forces. Over the last 30 years child obesity rates in the US have tripled. The cause is said to be too many high calorie low nutrition foods and not enough exercise.

A study released by Mission Readiness found that 27% of 18-24 year olds are too overweight to join the military. School lunches and junk food are to blame. The study says that, "Our standards are high because we cannot have people in our command who are not up to the job. Too many lives depend on it."

More than 50 years ago, President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act to protect our national security by combating malnutrition. This was to insure that American students would get the necessary nutrients to be healthy and fit to join the military when they got older.

Instead today, the US is waking up to a new health crisis that concerns many military leaders about the future strength of our armed forces. The crisis is obesity in many young people who desire a military career.

From 2007-2008, 5.7 million American men and 16.5 million women of military age were ineligible to join the military because they were overweight and unfit for service.

Many blame the School Lunch Program. More than 100 retired generals and admirals who are members of Mission Readiness, a non-partisan group of the military, have asked Congress to pass new, strong nutrition legislation to combat obesity and expand the pool of young men and women qualified for military service.

Congress responded by introducing The Hunger-Free Kid's Act, combating both hunger and obesity by ensuring that the food provided to kids in school is healthy. Also the bill will support better nutrition with exercise, and hopefully promote better eating habits. In order for the president to sign the bill, the House of Representatives needs to take action before the end of the year when all pending legislation dies. The changes are already paid for and have no impact on the deficit.

Given that most children consume 40% of their day's calories at school, the food they eat there has a serious impact on their health. First lady Michelle Obama has made reducing childhood obesity a priority also.

Objectives of the new legislation:

- get junk food and beverages out of the schools.

-support funding to improve the quality of meals served at school

-teach children and parents to make healthy nutritional choices.....whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and eating less fast food.

- promote exercise and fitness programs.

Unless something is done soon, our children will be less healthy than we are. Our kids are eating more than ever, but are running on empty. There is much work to be done to fix this.

Many parents are not doing their job to provide nutritious food. Children are overweight and unfit because of cheap, easily available junk food that parents pay for or bring home. Many kids get little exercise. We are a country where many of the poor are fat.

The government and the schools will do their part to try to fix this problem especially now that military recruitment is affected.

Sources:

St. Pete Times

http://w.w.w.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1015/Report-calls-obesity-a-threat-toU-

http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/school-lunch-childhood-obesity...