A Pentagon study found that 77% of young Americans, those between the ages of 17 and 24, would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, using drugs, or having mental and physical health problems.
This statistic has deteriorated six percentage points since a 2017 Department of Defense study found that 71% of young Americans would be ineligible for service.
Most young people (44%) are disqualified for multiple reasons, some combination of obesity, drug abuse, mental health problems, etc. When considering youth disqualified for a single reason, the most prevalent reason was overweight (11%), drug and alcohol abuse (8%), and medical/physical health (7%). The study examined Americans between the ages of 17 and 24, and was conducted by the Pentagon's office of personnel and readiness.
Military recruiters are having an increasingly difficult time meeting their quotas, with a shrinking pool of potential service members available to them. The Army missed its fiscal year 2022 recruiting goal by about 15,000 recruits, representing a 25 percent miss on the service’s 60,000 enlistee goal for the year. The Army has predicted the 2023 fiscal year will be another challenge for the service, leaving them with a further shortfall of 20,000 soldiers. This year, the Army’s recruiting goal is 65,000 new soldiers.
Maj. Charlie Dietz, a Department of Defense spokesman, confirmed that the study was accurate and said all the services are being challenged by the current recruiting environment.
"There are many factors that we are navigating through, such as the fact that youth are more disconnected and disinterested compared to previous generations," Dietz said.
The Council for a Strong America, a nonprofit organization made up of retired military officers, law enforcement and business leaders that advocates for better nutrition and healthy lifestyles among kids, issued a press release expressing alarm at the findings. The group called on lawmakers in Washington to take action so that younger generations would qualify for military service.
"The retired admirals and generals of Mission: Readiness recognize that the underlying causes of obesity cannot be solved by the efforts of the military alone," the Council said in a statement:
“With an increase in youth being ineligible for military service, it is more important than ever for policymakers, including state and local school boards, to promote healthy eating, increased access to fresh and nutritious foods, and physical activity for children from an early age.”
We have a serious problem with the diet children are being fed in modern America. If you look at old pictures from the 1950s and 1960s, very few were obese, maybe one in 50. Look at beach pictures from that era and everyone of all ages is relatively much fitter than they are today. The average 18-year-old boy in 1963 looks fitter than the average Navy Seal in 2023.
No doubt part of the problem is the high sugar, high carbohydrate diet we are eating. Bread has so much sugar today that it is almost inedible; it is like eating a doughnut sandwich. Thanks to the out-of-control agriculture lobby, everything is infused with high fructose corn syrup. We need a national diet with more fruit and vegetables, less sugar, less fat, less dairy, less meat, more exercise, and no high fructose corn syrup.
Kids also need more outdoor physical activity. It isn’t child abuse for kids to help out with lawn care and other outdoor tasks.
I’m wondering if another factor is the secular decline in testosterone levels. We’re becoming a nation not of men and women, but of androgynous, fatty lumps, “Pats,” as the old SNL skit had it.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20
“If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” 1 Cor. 3:17