Claiming that millions of young Americans age 17 to 24 – prime candidates for military recruitment – are “too fat to fight” and would be rejected for military service due to weight problems, a group of 130 retired generals, admirals, and other senior military leaders has endorsed a sizeable increase in funding for school meal programs to assist in strengthening our military.  “When that many young adults can’t fight because of their weight, it affects our national preparedness and national security,” said retired rear admiral Jamie Barnett, representing the group, titled “Mission:  Readiness, Military Leaders for Kids.”

“Our national security in 2030 is absolutely dependent on reversing the alarming rates of childhood obesity,” claimed Barnett, who called on Congress to pass legislation reauthorizing the Child Nutrition Act, including the Obama Administration’s  recommendation to increase funding by $10 billion over ten years.  Mission:  Readiness also endorsed adoption of nutrition standards for food sold in schools as recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

School meal programs owe their existence to defense policy; the National School Lunch Act was passed in 1946 in response to large numbers of draftees failing to qualify for military service in World War II due to diet-related health problems.  Back then, the main concern was not obesity but malnutrition.

The more traditional child nutrition supporters welcomed the show of military muscle. “Schools have already made tremendous strides in offering children healthy food options, but it will take the support of the entire community from parents, to our military leaders to Members of Congress, voting to fund these critical efforts, to turn around the childhood obesity crisis,” said Dora Rivas, director of food services for the Dallas, TX school district and president of the School Nutrition Association.  “The fact that so many youngsters are not fit for military service is, indeed, a wake-up call for this country,” echoed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the Mission:  Readiness news conference.

Military recruitment efforts have been more successful of late, as the recession makes military service a more attractive alternative to unemployment.  And it is recruiters who work with young people to help them get into shape so they are ready for boot camp, Barnett said.  “But given the fact that so many more kids are carrying so many more pounds, asking recruiters to fix the problem is like asking for a safety pin after the seams have burst,” he commented.

Source: TEFAP Alliance