Retired Military Leaders Say American Youth “Too Fat to Fight”
Mission: Readiness, a non-profit organization of senior retired military leaders, has issued a report claiming that “at least nine million 17- to 24-year-olds in the United States are too fat to serve in the military.” According to an April 20, 2010, press release, weight problems “have become the leading medical reason why recruits are rejected for service.” The group describes the situation as a threat to national security, noting that similar concerns prompted the military to initiate the National School Lunch Act in 1946. “Back then young people were undernourished, and now they are poorly nourished,” stated Mission: Readiness National Director Amy Taggart. “Too many kids are carrying too many pounds, and improving school nutrition is an important place to start.”
The retired military leaders have urged Congress to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act with changes that would (i) “allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] to adopt new nutrition standards that will get high-calorie, low-nutrition foods out of schools”; (ii) “support the administration’s proposal for adequate funding to improve the quality of food available in schools and increase the number of children who have access to quality meals at schools”; and (iii) “deploy proven school-based programs that enlist parents in helping children adopt life-long changes in their eating and exercise habits.” Backing the efforts of Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Mission: Readiness has echoed the call for an increase of $1 billion per year for 10 years to fund school programs designed to improve nutrition standards. “Our national security in the year 2030 is absolutely dependent on reversing the alarming rates of child obesity,” one member was quoted as saying. See The Associated Press, April 20, 2010.
