Thanks to Doug for passing this one on. This is appalling, yet not too surprising. Maybe Codepink or Al Qaeda should change their strategy, and start Operation Twinky? Operatives could put delicious cream filled Twinkies and Ho Ho’s in everyone’s mail box, and really fatten up America.
To fat to fight?….(shaking my head)
On a serious note, our national security strategy has been severely lacking in preparing this country’s youth for service during a time of national crisis. We should be directly targeting this group of 17-24 year olds, and figuring out ways of getting them off their ass. Because it is this group that will be drafted in a time of emergency, and at the very least they should be of the fitness level required to meet that kind of emergency.
Not to mention the life time of healthcare costs for these individuals. It benefits all of us, and in so many ways, to promote good health and fitness within our nation’s youth. Yet again, that would take leadership to push this through, along with innovation.
I also think the government should do more to support youth groups that promote patriotism, fitness, community service and self sufficiency. Groups like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and numerous other organizations that focus on today’s youth are exactly the type of organizations that prepare young men and women for the rigors of life and for being citizens of their country.
On that note, I will not sugar coat my thoughts on the real benefit of groups like the Boy Scouts. I have meet numerous contractors and military folks who were Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts lays the foundation for service to country, and they also give you the mental tools necessary for survival. The camping, first aid, tracking, fieldcraft, leadership, navigation, and numerous other skills taught in that organization easily transfer on to service in the military. I know this, because I am a Boy Scout and Eagle Scout, and I know exactly how helpful that experience was to me when I was a Smokejumper, Marine, and now a security contractor.
The founding fathers of the Scouting Movement, Frederick Burnham and Robert Baden-Powell knew this too, and they certainly put together an idea that has benefited our Nation and our Military in a multitude of ways. And if you click on those links to Burnham and Powell, you will also find their histories to be very interesting. These men were legends in their own times, and did some amazing soldiering all over the world. Something to think about if you have children. –Matt
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Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show
By William H. McMichael
Nov 4, 2009
U.S. military-age youth are increasingly unfit to serve — mostly because they’re in such lousy shape.
According to the latest Pentagon figures, a full 35 percent, or more than one-third, of the roughly 31.2 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified for military service because of physical and medical issues. And, said Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, “the major component of this is obesity. We have an obesity crisis in the country. There’s no question about it.”
The Pentagon draws its data from the Centers for Disease Control, which regularly tracks obesity. The steadily rising trend is not good news for military recruiters, despite their recent successes, nor for the overall health of the U.S. population.
In 1987, according to the CDC, a mere 6 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, or about 1 out of 20, were obese. In 2008, 22 years later, 23 percent of that age group — almost 1 out of 4 — was considered to be obese.
The CDC measures obesity by body mass index, a figure calculated from height and weight that is considered a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people. According to the CDC, the body mass index for a man standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds is 21.8; the normal range lies between 18.5 and 24.9. Below that range is considered underweight; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. A person with a body mass index of 30 or greater is considered to be obese.