The world has been saying for a while now that America is a nation of fatties and now military officials are saying something similar. In fact they are saying that the currently ongoing obesity epidemic is actually something of a threat to national security.
It is a staggering statistic that as many as 27% of young people in the US, 17 to 24 year olds, are too overweight to join the military. A nonprofit group of 130 retired admirals, generals and senior military leaders that promotes health and education for American children, called Mission: Readiness, presented a report last week that said as much.
Earlier a Pentagon report claimed that in 2005, as many as 48,000 military recruits had failed the test that measures weights standards.
As many as 12,000 recruits are lost before finishing the first term of enlistment each year.
This is because of being unable to keep up standards and this causes more people to be enlisted, and trained in place of those trained and had to leave.
Vasti Cedeno was one military aspirant who had to drop 112 pounds before being able to qualify to join the military. Currently recruiters have to work young people to get them to lose weight before they get a weight appropriate for being recruited.
Source: New Jersey News
