Too Fat to Fight?

You know we got a problem when even the US military wants changes to the school lunch program. It turns out that they have to turn away approximately 25% of potential recruits for being too overweight to fight. And, because young adults are raised with bad eating habits, they have to discharge far too many of those who they do initially recruit for being too fat.

You can read about it here: http://www.missionreadiness.org/

This report, by a group of retired military officers, says that national security is threatened by the sharp rise in obesity rates for young people over the last 15 years. The group Mission: Readiness contends that weight problems are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected, and jeopardizes the military's ability to fill its ranks.

The report says that 27 percent of Americans ages 17 to 24, are too fat to join the military.

The retired officers were on Capitol Hill advocating for passage of a wide-ranging nutrition bill that aims to make the nation's school lunches healthier.

The military getting involved is a powerful symbol. The school lunch program was established in 1946 because during World War II, military leaders had the opposite problem. Too many recruits were rejected because of stunted growth and inadequate nutrition. After the war, it was military leaders who pushed Congress to establish the national school lunch program.

Specifically, the military leaders want Congress to eliminate junk food and high-calorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits.

So, now that the military is on board with this, do you think we could get bipartisan support for improved school lunches?

Support the military--get junk food out of our schools!!!