Boilermaker and Beyond

If you were to ask the average American: ‘What is the biggest military threat to our country’ what do you think the answer would be? Iran? North Korea? Terrorism? How about fat!

A group of 100 retired general& admirals have identified youth obesity as the number one problem for the U.S. military.

The report authored by this group called “To Fat to Fight” focuses on food options at the school level including having Congress eliminate the serving of junk food in schools in favor of healthier options.

The armed forces have a small pool to fish from; 75% of young people cannot enter the military due to a criminal record, lack of high school graduation, or being physically unfit. Currently roughly 27% of 17- 24 year olds are too overweight to enter the military- that’s 9,000,000 troops!  

"The folks that are going to enter the military in 2025 are in school right now," Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Norman Seip told Reuters. "So it's up to us to ensure that when those children reach the age of between 17 and 24 that they are ready or eligible to join the military."

While I agree that school lunches are an easy first target because of government control, the core problem resides in the home. I think it’s tough to legislate common sense.

The reasons for this crisis are many; fast food, addictive video games, employees glued to computer terminals, and lack of access to healthier food options. Currently, according to Nielsen, the average American watches 34 hours of television a week; that’s almost a full-time job!

Unfortunately this ‘enemy’ began its invasion generations ago and I fear it will take decades to finally declare victory.

In the end it’s about choices. It’s about choices about how we decide to treat ourselves. Rarely are the right choices the easy ones. It’s clearly easier to watch the latest episode of your favorite show (which you recorded so you can watch even more TV) than to walk, swim, or jog.

Don’t give up on yourself; there are a lot of people (family, friends, and perhaps the nation) that are depending on you!