Too fat to fight: Pentagon grapples with obesity epidemic

This problem came to light several years ago, but, as SecDef Mattis noted, is a "big concern". When a third are our nation's youth are too fat to fight, that's a problem. Now the Army is falling short of their recruitment goals by 6,500 soldiers in 2018. Remember when people were worried that by letting women in the service, standards would be reduced? Now our military services are facing doing the same to let "pudgy soldiers" serve simply because they have no one else to do it.

Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" healthy food program was a partial solution, but the RWers ridiculed it and eventually shut it down in the name of the Coca-Cola and McDonald's corporations.

Should taxpayers be concerned? Shouldn't they have a voice in what public schools are feeding the nation's children?


https://www.yahoo.com/news/too-fat-...-065831726.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_06
A study released this week has found that nearly one-third of young Americans are now too overweight to join up, a worrying statistic for military officials already facing recruitment challenges.

"Obesity has long threatened our nation's health. As the epidemic grows, obesity is posing a threat to our nation's security as well," the Council for a Strong America states in its new report.

 

The folks who have children that attend public school should have a say in what is being feed to their children.

 

A military study published in March 2011: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a547350.pdf
Military service members are significantly affected by an epidemic of poor health and fitness. Poor health and fitness significantly decreases the strategic and operational effectiveness of the U.S. Armed Forces....Senior leaders, both strategic and operational, must continue to keep the focus on insuring that the men and women of our Armed Forces are physically fit and healthy. Senior Leaders of our military must not allow the obesity epidemic to continue to threaten the national security of this great nation as well as our Armed Forces. A joint fitness perspective will allow our military a unity of effort to address and act aggressively to combat obesity and the lack of fitness that is a threat to our National Security. Senior military leaders must act decisively now, our national security is at risk.

 

Agreed but I also think the taxpayers in general should have a say. Obviously making the right decisions requires good, informed political leadership. I think the partisan efforts to squash Michelle Obama's healthy food program in schools was detrimental to the best interests of "We, the People".

 

From last February: https://www.heritage.org/defense/re...sis-young-americans-unable-serve-the-military
The military depends on a constant flow of volunteers every year. According to 2017 Pentagon data, 71 percent of young Americans between 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve in the United States military. Put another way: Over 24 million of the 34 million people of that age group cannot join the armed forces—even if they wanted to. This is an alarming situation that threatens the country’s fundamental national security. If only 29 percent of the nation’s young adults are qualified to serve, and if this trend continues, it is inevitable that the U.S. military will suffer from a lack of manpower. A manpower shortage in the United States Armed Forces directly compromises national security.

 

There is a simple solution by thinking outside the box. USA should only fight countries which have a higher obesity rate than the USA.

 

Funny, but the only countries causing problems are the ones hungry for food, power or resources.

 

Fatties desire food, power, and resources too.

 

Yes, but they are often too lazy to do anything about it. Bitching and moaning is not the same as flying an airliner into a building.

 

They do. local school board elections.

not every gcddamn thing needs to be run by the gcddamn federal government....this is the United STATES of America, not Ameritopia (yet...though I know the GlobalistMarxistHumanistProgressiveSJW set would love to follow crumbling EUtopia's lead)

 

This problem has been well publicized for several years now and what is being done about it? Nothing. Why?

From April 2013:

https://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-report-says-military-is-overweight-2013-4
Not because muscle-bound troops ware any less fit, but because an average male grunt can't drag a 250-pound buddy from the kill zone, regardless of whether that weight is from fat or from muscle.

Among the weight statistics were other alarming numbers regarding post traumatic stress, sexual assault, drug abuse and especially alcohol abuse.

 

Nice strawman but nobody says the ******n Feds need to be running the show.

 

Internet, smart phones, Facebook, Instagram, video games, participation trophies/the destruction of sports, the elimination of PE, terrible parenting (Helicopter, Lawnmower)....

it's not 'just' poor diets.

 

nobody? Michelle Obama's school diet initiative wasn't national?

 

It was a program advocating healthier diets. What Federal powers does FLOTUS have?

Is Melania's anti-bullying program a Federal program or merely an idea she's advocating?

 

So, declare neutrality and enlarge and diversify our nuclear forces and next time any nation attacks the USA or we hit terrorist bases etc. use nukes make them our standard first strike and retaliatory weapon and no one will ever go to war with us. Say Iran does hurt our interests why play nuke some military and economic targets with lower yield weapons say their precious oil fields and ports in response and tell the world not to mess around with the USA unless they want to risk a similar heavy handed response. Scare the world with the clear example of we using nuclear weapons again. That's why we need the big armed force no one is terrified of us and I'd rather have them terrified of us than be nice. We hold a Permanent Security Council seat just veto anything afterwards they put out there as a response. Then eliminate much of our armed forces.

I would require states set-up militias as per the US Constitution to be our army they can fund them, require able bodied adults join and train and do other things and we can hand them the military gear as we eliminate much of the standing armed forces. Keep the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and a Nuclear Missile Force using the Air Force resources and a Space Force.

 

it happened. you can't wish or lie it away.

 

Translation: You're right again, Max. Neither Michelle's nor Melania's programs were Federal programs. You and I both know that has to be done by Congress. Only ****ing morons would believe otherwise.

No problem, dude.

 

So the football I watch with kids playing is anime?

 

Awesome. So what happens when Iran blocks the Straits of Hormuz or China decides they own the entire Yellow Sea? You advocate starting WWIII?

 

Having a FAT, MORBIDLY OBESE POS (Who makes Jabba the Hut look slim and trim) serving as POTUS isn't helping matters.

 

Fat kids need to exercise more and eat less, most of the other kids can eat anything they want and not gain a pound. I always bagged a lunch and never ate the school food, most times, it was almost inedible.

But a lot of this stems from the child's home life, not just school. School cannot replace parenting and this is the direction most people seem to be taking nowadays. They expect schools to "parent" their parent their children and then they take the role of parenting the teachers and the school system. Parents today, in a lot of areas are not taking enough responsibility for their kids. Especially single parents living in very low income neighborhoods with multiple kids.

But I think schools need to be overhauled in many ways. It's just a part of the bigger issues that plague society as a whole.

 

If you dont like what schools feed your
Kids make them lunch. This isnt hard people. My kids lunches aren’t all that bad. There’s baked food. A burger is not horrible. There’s fruit. Is it perfect? No. But my kids are fairly active and they dont eat perfect either. Neighborhoods and the weather down here in FL make that more difficult than up north where I grew up. But I don’t remember school lunches from the 80s being much different. But I brown bagged it 99% of the time.

 

I believe I said that the folks who have kids going to the schools need to have a say so in the process where does that equate to the Federal Gov't. Smfh.

 

they do. but that wasn't acceptable for the Obamas.