Once again, millennials are making a mess of things, and this time it could “threaten national security,” according to a new report which found that approximately 71% of millennials aged 17 to 24 – the prime age to enlist in America’s armed forces and fight a foreign war in the Middle East – are non-recruitable, with obesity disqualifying about 31% of them.
The Council for a Strong America, a nonprofit team of law enforcement leaders, retired admirals and generals, business executives, pastors, and prominent coaches and athletes who promote solutions that ensure America’s next-generation is “citizen-ready,” published the study on Wednesday, called “Unhealthy and Unprepared,” warns that America’s rising number of overweight millennials are going to have a significant impact on the military’s ability to win a future war.
“Out of all the reasons that we have future soldiers disqualify, the largest – 31% – is obesity,” Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, head of Army Recruiting Command, said Wednesday at AUSA’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
This year, the Army missed its recruiting goals for the first time since 2005, and the study warned: as the obesity epidemic grows, these recruiting challenges will continue unless immediate countermeasures are enacted to promote healthy lifestyles for youth.
The report offered several ideas on how to suppress the out of control obesity epidemic ravaging millennials. One solution is to focus on nutrition and physical activity from a young age, which can condition children to live healthier lifestyles to prepare for any career.
Proper nutrition and physical activity are the building blocks of a stronger and healthier generation that will ultimately increase the military’s future recruiting goals before the next conflict with Russia and or China. The report said it starts with parents and educators that teach children about healthy eating and exercise habits, while state and federal officials must adopt public school programs that promote nutrition and encourage physical activity from an early age.
Meanwhile, American exceptionalism is waning, and it’s not only due to fast food. The Army missed recruiting goals this year, which should serve as a warning: the US is ill-prepared to engage in a military conflict.
The study concluded and said: “trends in obesity must be reversed before our national security is further comprised.” And while the report did offer some token solutions how to fix the obesity problem, the damage has already been done, and to reverse such a dramatic trend will take decades; the question is whether America’s next armed conflict will wait that long?
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