Too Fat to Fight

Is our ever expanding waistline becoming a national security issue? This article seems to think so:

Nearly 2 out of 10 men and 4 out of 10 women of recruiting age weigh too much to be eligible, a record number for that age group.

Apparently todays soldiers weigh 37 pounds more than their civil war counterparts. However this could be muscle - not necessarily fat.

"This is quickly becoming a national security issue for us. The pool of recruits is becoming smaller," said Col. Gaston Bathalon, an Army nutrition expert.

Unless weight rules are relaxed, "we're going to have a harder time fielding an Army," he said.

Maybe fast food is a new kind of biological warfare.

Written By J. Foster

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6 Comments

frances

Has anyone ever been to army boot camp? Three months of that would have 50 lbs right off. Hope they are not trying skip this basic training.

Adam Wilk

Eh...they're still using Civil War statistics as a guide to physical acceptability? What are they, nuts?
I can't believe what some of these poor people are doing to themselves just to get into the military. Yikes! Better order more of them ICBM's...
-Adam

Kery

Why would anyone compare their weight to their Civil War's counterparts? That's, uhm... one heck of a way to flaw statistics. While we're at it, why not compare said weight to the one of the cavemen, huh?

Kent

Considering I lost over 185 pounds to reenlist the National Guard, I can believe that there are teenage kids doing it sign up in the first place. If you want something enough, you can most likely find a way to get it off. (barring disability or serious medical condition) I hear a similar type of problem is happening for the blood bank as their restrictions for a safe supply have reduced the eligble candidates as well. In the end, it spurred me as someone who could to sign on the line again.

Spectra

My brother in law is in the Reserves and he said a LOT of the guys failed the physical requirements. Quite simply, it was because a lot of them were fat, sedentary 18 year olds that had been playing video games all their teenage years. Big surprise that they couldn't run a mile.

Neil

Theres nothing wrong with being a fat 18y.o. lad if you can afford to be.