Too fat to fight: Pentagon Grapples with Obesity Epidemic.

Washington (AFP) - Forget about the high-tech military challenges from China and Russia, the Pentagon is facing a fast-growing national security threat that could be even trickier to tackle: America's obesity crisis.

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 Army last month announced it would miss its goal of attracting 76,500 new recruits in 2018. The shortfall is of about 6,500 soldiers -- the first time since 2005 the service had missed its hiring targets.

A strong US economy and tight jobs market played a role, but the numbers highlight the dwindling pool of applicants the Pentagon has to draw from.

According to the Defense Department, obesity is one of the top reasons why a stunning 71 percent of Americans aged 17-24 do not meet the military's sign-up requirements.
"Given the high percentage of American youth who are too overweight to serve, recruiting challenges will continue unless measures are taken to encourage a healthy lifestyle beginning at a young age," states the study, entitled "Unhealthy and Unprepared."
Other factors such as prior drug use or a lack of academic qualifications are also taking a toll.
The report, compiled by a group of retired generals and admirals, notes that the obesity issue is a particular worry as it comes when fewer young people are interested in joining the military in the first place.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine general, last month said the shrinking pool of Americans eligible to serve was a "big concern."
"It's a sad state of affairs when 71 percent of the 18 to 24-year-old males in this country cannot qualify to enter the United States Army as a private," he said.
The problem should be addressed at the local level, he said, praising efforts of retired service members who are working in schools "to try to restore physical education where it's been taken out, to try to get school lunches to be things that fuel the body, instead of just giving them crummy food."
- 'Pudgy soldiers' -
The obesity problem persists even after boot camp.
According to retired Army major general Jeffrey Phillips, the military spends more than $1.5 billion each year treating obesity-related health conditions and filling positions vacated by unfit troops.

"I saw it myself: pudgy soldiers visibly pushing, or beyond, the 'height and weight' standards," Phillips wrote in a Military Times commentary.
The new report says the Pentagon has recognized the long-standing obesity problem, and is taking steps to improve the health of its troops.
One Army program, known as the Performance Triad, "aims to improve soldier readiness and encourage healthy behaviors, and to provide support to soldiers in these areas."
The Army has also introduced a new physical fitness test that measures the likelihood recruits will go on to meet the physical demands of their selected military job.
Many military facilities are equipped with top-notch gyms, and dining facilities on US bases around the world often provide nutritional guidelines.
The report concludes that the solution lies in ensuring children and parents learn about the vital importance of healthy eating and physical activity from a young age.
"Basic training lasts weeks, but building strong troops takes years. Encouraging healthy lifestyles early in life will help our nation prepare for future challenges," retired Air Force general Richard Myers said.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year found that 2.2 billion people worldwide are believed to be overweight, and more than one in 10 people are obese, fueling a global health crisis that claims millions of lives every year.

Of the world's most populous countries, the United States leads the way in terms of obesity among children and young adults, at 13 percent.

For Those Who Eat Like Vultures.

The Vulture eats between his meals,

And that's the reason why

He very, very, rarely feels

As well as you and I.

His eye is dull, his head is bald,

His neck is growing thinner.

Oh! what a lesson for us all

To only eat at dinner!

-       Hillaire Belloc.

The Scourge of Obesity Among Young People.

Early in the morning last Saturday, I was inside a Shoprite store when I saw a woman jump onto one of the store’s scooters. I thought she was merely sitting on it while waiting for someone. But she soon drove it into an aisle to look at the arrays of items. I then wondered why such a young woman would need a scooter to shop. I however noted that she was grossly obese.

I was also at the Christiana Mall (Delaware) the other week and observed the many young men and women, all in their early twenties, as they practically struggled to walk. In my opinion, these young people are human “time-bombs” who pose serious health dangers to themselves. If anything at all, they risk sudden heart failures on daily basis.



The nagging question on my mind at that point was why there were (and still are) so many fat young people all over the place? The answers, though, could not be far-fetched. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out the sources of the problems and the possible solutions to the issue of obesity among the young folks.

On the one hand are the too many young people who are ignoring the importance of a healthy lifestyle. They eat like gluttons with reckless abandon. And their choices of “favorite” foods are usually the junks. For folks eating and drinking so recklessly, aren’t they supposed to do some daily work-outs? The answer is no! Many of them actually hate any form of physical exercise like the plague.



On the other hand, there are those among them who restrict themselves to some expensive so-called organic foods, bottled water and all kinds of cute, exotic stuff BUT after consuming all those expensive foods and drinks, what do they do?

• They drive cars with automatic transmissions without breaking a sweat.

• They use remote devices to control their televisions in a bid to avoid getting up once-in-awhile.

• They go to stores and, instead of walking along the aisles to do some physical exercise they lazily get on motor scooters to ride around in pleasure.

• At work or when visiting public places, they go everywhere by elevators.

• And back home, they sit opposite televisions for hours, turning themselves into “couch potatoes”.

And so, these young people pile up fats. Their stomachs protrude as if they are six-month pregnant, they pants and grunts while trying to do the most minimal chores and turning their fat bodies into “comfortable homes” for diabetes, heart diseases and numerous other ailments. And, of course, they end up getting sick most of the time until, one day, when their body time-bombs will explode!

 

 

Reactions to "Accept me as I am"

I have been getting e-mails in reaction to "Accept me as I am" published here on May 17, 2012, Most of the mails are coming from women who are either against or in favor of the thrust of the article. And there are those who completely misunderstand my point in the whole thing. To them, it's another demonstration of an insensitive attitude on the part of men to the travails of women. Below are two of the e-mails that I decided to publish today because the women insisted I did.

(i). The first time I read Accept me as I am on your blog site, I wanted to curse you out. I was upset. Okay, I guess I took it a little too personal. But after a while, I took it that you were only responding to the shared personal experience of your lady friend or colleague. Poor woman, her husband had the nerve to ignore her in bed! Do you guys think us women want to be shapeless by choice? For god's sake, the woman lost her figure because of the couple's child whose pregnancy she carried. Do you guys think it's easy to carry a pregnancy for months before going through delivery and then be able to look like one used to?

In my situation, I had my baby last year through a caesarian section. Now, how could I go to the gym or do anything to take off the weight I gained? Besides, some medications I took made me pile on more weight. If my boyfriend dares open his mouth to say I no longer look like I used to, I'll curse the hell out of him because he made my body what it is now.   

(2). I enjoyed reading what you wrote about the need for women to take care of their bodies but I felt I should let you know that men also need to do same. I never cared about workouts until I met my ex-husband. Actually, it was his sexy body, six pack and all that attracted me to him. He was also the person who encouraged me to get in good shape. Right now, no one will ever know I've got two kids because of my great body shape. 

Now guess what? The same guy that taught me to take care of my body is himself now in very bad shape. The last dumb thing that came out of his mouth before I decided to dump his black ass was that he was too old to continue with daily workouts. Too old at 38? But he has never been too old to eat a big box of large pizza and top it with a gallon of soda at just one sitting? Now, he has a pot belly that keeps expanding everyday with a fat, wobbly body. He is a big mess. The last time I saw him, he could not even tie his own shoe laces. Isn't that crazy? So, tell me what use is such a guy to a woman in bed and anywhere? I just wanted you to know that this issue cuts across men and women.