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Obesity not only creates terrible health problems, it's causing people to not even be able to enlist and serve in the military.
If they really wanted to enlist in the army, they would do whatever they needed to do to become eligible. More likely, the problem is that people don't want to enlist and serve in the military, not that they can't.
If they really wanted to enlist in the army, they would do whatever they needed to do to become eligible. More likely, the problem is that people don't want to enlist and serve in the military, not that they can't.
Excellent point. I know a few military moms and they mentioned other problems recruiters are having. Not only are the kids' weight/fitness standards not up to par, young people just don't want to join. They don't know what the military is like unless they have a relative in the military already, so they don't know why it would be a good career for them, and most branches require that students not be enrolled in college already which eliminates a lot of candidates. Parents are still pushing their kids to go to college.
What are you referring to?
I did not read about any attempted government interaction or limitation of choice or freedoms in the O.P.
I did not say the government. I'm talking about alt-right media, alt-right social media, forum right-wingers. Unless all of the people and media are extremist outliers, and in no way reflect the majority conservative view, then I'll revise it to headwinds from loud extremist alt-right public opinion.
I could do your research and post links and sources, but your disingenuous response is just playing dumb.
There's the added disincentive of not wanting to get blown up, or to come back with PTSD. For some reason, not everyone who needs treatment gets it from the VA clinics.
One option for a military career without ever seeing combat, that most people don't think of, is to go to army language school in Monterey. Graduates get some kind of officer designation, and are sent to listening stations around the world, to translate radio messages, and do other language work. I know a couple of people who did that during the Vietnam War, to avoid Vietnam altogether. One was assigned to Turkey, and was able to spend weekend holidays in Europe.
I was merely opposed to another ineffective government program which obviously didn't accomplish much. Michelle's program had a number of years to do something, it would appear it was ineffective.
It was ineffective because people fought it on every level.
But one side fought it just because it was her.
The other side fought it because it was "fat shaming."
And actually, all Michelle was doing was touting the federal standards that already existed.
Sorry--but that is called "The Nanny State" by those who prefer to remain obese. Michelle tried--but the GOP headwinds against health and fitness proved to be very strong.
Michelle failed because kids didn't want to eat the food because it was horrible so bought elsewhere making the school lunch subsidies a waste. Plus she didn't practice what she preached, gorging on fried foods at every opportunity, and her *ss showed it.
The problem today is the choice of what kids are eating, the amount they eat, and LACK OF EXERCISE. Kids are now happy to sit on their I phones, or computers using Snap Chat, or Instagram, and playing video games. Go outside. See any kids riding bikes, playing pick up B ball, football, or baseball games? Street hockey? NO, they are in their basements getting fatter.
Parents have allowed their kids to embrace the Virtual World while feeding them ACTUAL calories.
That's as serious as the problem during WWII, but the opposite cause. When WWII broke out, many draftees had such severe nutritional disease from the Great Depression that they couldn't be used. It's why the Department of Defense started the federal school lunch program.
Kids are overweight because they are couch potatoes. From an early age they are not allowed outside unless attended by an adult. With no muscle tissue, they wouldn't be worth much even at normal weight.
If they really wanted to enlist in the army, they would do whatever they needed to do to become eligible. More likely, the problem is that people don't want to enlist and serve in the military, not that they can't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
If someone is young enough to serve in the military, they're probably young enough to shed the excess weight.
Actually, no.
This is something that is new.
Back when I was a teen (back in the 60s), the military didn't care how "fluffy" recruits were. They knew that if you got an 18-year-old running every day and put him on somewhat of a controlled diet, he'd burn off the fat in six to eight weeks. And it worked. It had worked for decades, centuries.
It doesn't work today. It doesn't burn off in six to eight weeks--these teens are still unacceptably overweight even at the end of basic training. The fat is somehow different today.
It might be that teens today have too much old fat--too many of them have been fat since they were toddlers.
Or it may be a different composition of fat because of processed food additives, which exploded in the 70s and 80s compared to earlier decades.
Hey, maybe we can't fight, but we can chew our way through! Can we season our enemies first?
It could be the nature of war? Look at all the military that are now drone pilots or will be recruited for the coming automation. Siting in a computer chairs, thousands of miles away from the battlefront or out of range of the enemy's bullets, is not the best exercise. In general we have tried to make transport to the battlefronts easier or safer and that boils down to less calories burned. Do we still need all the extremely fit soldiers that we needed during the last wars? Of course we would still need many, but as AI filters into the picture those numbers could decline.
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