Back in 2008 when the Army was recruiting our daughter, the wife and I had several conversations with the recruiters. This subject came up even then. Military recruitment is vital to our national interests; if new war fighters can't be found we are in deep kimchi.
Americans continue to get fatter and it's delivering a huge blow to the country, both in higher health care costs and undercutting military recruiting, according to a huge new study.more here.
The 14th annual State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation bluntly reported that 70 percent of the nation is obese or overweight.
And while the rate of obesity growth is leveling off, the costs aren't. The report, for example, said additional health care for obese adults and children is $150 billion a year and billions of dollars more in lost worker productivity.
It is also costly to the military, said the report. Nearly one-quarter of military recruits are rejected because they are obese and it costs the Pentagon $1 billion a year in added health care costs for obese troops and their families.
6 comments:
Thank you to your daughter for her service.
As someone who has struggled with weight issues before I can tell you having commercials popping up on our televisions depicting succulent treats and having fast food restaurants on every corner doesn't help those with a weakness for food.
People don't realize how years of reckless abandon can affect their health. Their so-called "comfort food" can turn their lives into a healthcare nightmare.
Don't believe me? Ask anyone with diabetes. They'll set you straight.
Incidentally, the article you linked to described blacks and Latinos as being disproportionately more obese than other ethnicities. These two demographics also have a 40 to 50% higher incidence of diabetes.
We are, indeed, heavily surrounded by food and chefs in restaurants, eateries, TV programs/TV contests,you name it. It doesn't help us stay healthy. Dieting is not for the weak of character; it's a long, demanding process.People get frustrated and choose what looks like a short way: surgery, but this has its risks.
Americans have had a non-laborious lifestyle for a good long time. I think something else is at play here. GMO's? Don't know.
My weight problem started when I stopped smoking, gained 50 pounds. Curse you heart attack! Once my sense of smell returned I discovered that my wife was actually a really good cook. The pounds just don't come off like they used to.
She and I both go on and off diets ... yet we know it is a matter of changing your life style that does the trick. I don't have three babies and a c-section to blame though.
Pictures of my late father's generation in their first uniforms show a bunch of underweight depression era teenagers not fit to fight. In June 1956, President Eisenhower created the President's Council on Youth Fitness with cabinet-level status so that we wouldn't be caught off guard if the Soviets blitzed us. After Vietnam, physically fit youth, ready for battle, became quite unpopular. Now we have a generation of overweight, out of shape kids unfit for combat, the opposite of the situation in the 1940's. Now we have to dedicate resources for weight loss. My nephew was once put in command of the "Fat Boy Platoon" to get them in shape for Basic Training.
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