Maybe the solution to ending all wars is to promote obesity. All we have to do is encourage our children to continue to eat junk food and pretty soon, nobody would be able to meet the minimum threshold of 26% body fat to enlist in the military. Maybe wars could be waged by holding hamburger eating contests instead of using bombs and bullets.
Twenty six percent body fat does not exactly make a lean mean fighting machine by any stretch of the imagination. Athletes typically have a body fat composition of 6% to 13%. If you think that our soldiers look like the hard bodies you see stripped down to the waist in the movies, thing again.
According to an article that appeared on myfox.com on December 8, 2010, American soldiers are taking diet pills, laxatives, subjecting themselves to self imposed starvation or extreme diets, and even having liposuction performed to keep their jobs. The article informs us that more than 1/3 of uniformed men and women don’t meet the Army’s weight standards. While dismissal form the Army is the most severe penalty, failure to meet the standards will hold a person back from a promotion. You can see the article by linking to the website listed at the end of this article.
Obesity is out of control in America and now Type 2 diabetes, the next step in the demise of a human body as a result of excessive acidosis, is at epidemic levels. So, what are we doing about it?
Michelle Obama has adopted a healthy diet cause and her “Let’s Move” effort is important and worthwhile. According to Mrs. Obama’s site:
* Obesity rates among children have tripled in the last three decades, and one in three children are obese.
* One-third of all children born after 2000 will suffer from diabetes.
* Children are less active today than at any other time in American history, spending 7.5 hours a day watching TV, playing video games or simply involved in efforts that don’t require movement.
* Obesity is contributing to the vast increase in hypertension among Americans.
Big ups for Mrs. Obama and her efforts.
But then we have Sarah Palin who is promoting junk food as part of her… oh hell, I can’t imagine what makes the woman say and do half the things she does. And then there’s Rush Limbaugh… no, I’m not going there! While democracy is built on our freedoms, it is obvious that our citizens need better dietary mentors than McDonald’s and Coca Cola.
The stimulus for writing this article came from an article appearing on the home page of CNN on December 6, 2010. The article titled “Why Obesity is a National Security Threat” was written by David Frum. Please take a couple of minutes to read this article which you can link to here:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/06/frum.obesity.military/index.html?hpt=C1
Here is the link to the article titled that I referred to earlier called “US Soldiers Turn To Diet Pills, Liposuction To Meet Weight Standards” that was written on December 8, 2010 and appeared as a commentary on the myfoxdc.com website:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/health/us-soldiers-turn-to-diet-pills-liposuction-to-meet-weight-standards-ncxdc-120810
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.