Jose Loera
Every day you probably do not notice the overwhelming number of obese youngsters but our generals have definitely noticed. Two generals in particular have made claims that obesity among our young Americans can undermine the future of the US military. The claim is that more than a quarter of young Americans are now too fat to fight. This claim suggests that military service recruits will have obesity as the overwhelming factor for medical dismissal.
The next step that the generals have taken has been to encourage congress to introduce laws to change the value of nutrition that the students are receiving in school. The generals have also joined a coalition of over 130 generals on this fight to encourage new laws. Two former Joint Chiefs of Staff have been quoted saying, “Obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the future strength of our military.”
My question to the readers out there is are you one of this kids or is this your brother, sister, or cousin? Do you buy into the claim our future soldiers will not be able to fight because their belly is holding them back? What are your thoughts on the subject considering many school districts have decided to cut out Physical Education (P.E) programs due to budget cuts.
7 comments:
As Americans, its true we are surrounded by obesity every day. Nutrition education however is NOT the problem. Public schools, elementary through college do a fine job educating kids on what is healthy for them. The problem is availability and technology in America. The most "obese" states are in the south. Do you think that this is related to nutrition education? Unlikely. The ideas of availability and technology make America great but we need to be smart about it. By availability, i mean the idea of going to the grocery store and being able to buy frozen pizzas, eggos, pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with tons of unhealthy preservatives along with fast food chains on every corner. Yes, those can make life easy but we've become dependent on them and we're suffering now. Second is technology, kids no longer play as many outdoor games because of video games and computers etc. In moderation these are great America attributes but we can only blame ourselves for obesity problems, not education.
I think that the generals are right in some respect. I have large family members who, without a firm workout regiment to whip them into shape, would not be able to come close to making it out of boot camp, let alone fight in a war. One thing people in the military have in common is that they are all in good shape. It is totally unacceptable for schools to cut PE, and it would be nice if all students were required to play an after school sport to keep them in shape and not to mention the other positive character building traits team sports bring to the table.
Of all issues that child obesity poses, it is sad that the issue of it threatening our military is what is causing this mobilization. Schools should obviously still be offering physical education, but this is one of the first programs that gets cut in the face of an economic crisis. I think it is good that these generals are mobilizing, and trying to make a difference, but the issue that is getting looked passed is that of health and poverty. Some families don't have the means to be buying healthy food. To solve this problem, it is important to look at poverty stricken areas, and how food programs are being handled. The fact that our military may be threatened is at the very bottom of my list for important issues that child obesity raises.
During my next to last year in the military, the Powers That Be started continually dropping the bar for entry and for retaining soldiers. Waivers were abundant.
I was supposed to uphold 35-10 (dress code/appearance), but it got to the point where half the flight were scruff haired, overweight posers that would waiver out of the 1 1/2 mile every year. Waiver out of the bare minimum.
This is how the Air Force became more streamline for the 21st century, by allowing their soldiers to become spherical.
Its sad that we are going to be a nation of diabetics in a few years time
As an active duty Marine, I have witnessed members failing to accomplish missions due to the lack of physical readiness in a combat situation. First, people requesting to enlist must pass a physical examination which consists of height/weight standards. If recruits fail to meet these requirements then they will be put on a physical fitness and nutrition program to address this issue. My personal belief is that this is generalization of the current trend in American society, but physical education is an important part of education because it provides students with many more social situations such as dealing with adversity and teamwork.
I sorta of agree on this. I think as a solider you need to be mentally and physically fit. I think your health affects so many aspects of ones life and that it is important to keep oneself in the best condition because you are doing a job that demands alot from you and people relay one you.
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