Too Fat To Fight?

Our country’s eating habits and subsequent world leading obesity rate plays a very serious part in our health care dilemma. Apparently this situation is affecting our country’s military defense capabilities.

An organization of dozens of retired Generals, Admirals and other senior military leaders recently released a report to the Department of Defense indicating that 75% of American women and men, aged 17 to 24 years of age, are unable to join the military because they failed to graduate from high school, have criminal records, or are physically unfit.

Unfortunately, the biggest reason for being unqualified for the military is being overweight or obese. The report “Too Fat To Fight” states that “Once again, America’s retired military leaders are alerting Congress to a threat to national security. The basic fact is that too many young American men and women are too fat to fight.”

The report states that 27% of Americans in this age group are too heavy to meet military requirements. Even worse, the Center for Disease Control has reported that 42 % of young adults in the 18 to 24 age group are either overweight or obese.

The target of this effort is getting our national government to focus more attention on what our schools provide as far as food and exercise programs. They are specifically asking Congress to give the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to require our schools to adopt the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) and guidelines for what foods should be sold and served in our schools.

This is a serious example of how our personal health problems in this country affect so much more than just ourselves. Our neglect of our own health can affect our friends and family and now apparently has an impact on our national defense capabilities as well.

We all wish that our governments could wave a magic wand and legislate changes across the country, but isn’t the responsibility with us? Don’t we have to be a role model for our family, our friends, ourselves? Isn’t it better that we “be” what is best for our families, our friends, and our country? And it’s not the end result that we need to model for others, it’s the effort and commitment to ourselves and others that shows up the most.

Be a patriot and be the best that you can be!

LouAnn Good
Fitness Together Fort Myers