Army fat camp slims down would-be recruits
More than 60 years after winning the Battle of the Bulge against the Germans, the Army is losing it right here at home.
According to Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick, head of the U.S. Army’s Recruiting Command, obesity is one of the largest obstacles in the recruitment of new soldiers.
Bostick’s solution? And Army-run fat camp for new recruits, which would include strict dietary restrictions and a fitness regimen. Bostick says the camp would work in concert with a school that would help new recruits attain the GED that’s needed for induction into the services. It’s a one-stop-shop for the body and the mind, courtesy of Uncle Sam.
Based on the Department of Defense’s own figures, it sounds like Bostick’s plan is necessary. Over the last four years, more than 47,000 would-be soldiers flunked their physicals because they were deemed beyond the Army’s weight and body mass limits. In a time when the armed forces on the whole (and the Army in particular) are struggling to meet recruiting quotas, this is a large number.
Army recruiter Sgt. Darryl Bogan says the problem is that as a nation, Americans are getting larger. “I’d say that out of every 10 applicants that come in, probably three we couldn’t take – they are obese.” He added that as many as 30 percent of other recruits have more manageable weight issues, but still must lose weight before they can be inducted.
Obesity actually has been a problem for people already in the armed forces, as well. Though the Army has been one of the branches of service that, ironically, has been immune to the chubby bug. Generally, it’s the more sedentary services such as the Navy (my alma mater) and the Air Force (sometimes referred to as the “Chair Force”), which have struggled with tight-fitting uniforms.
After all the obesity-related health problems that I’ve written to you about over the years, I never thought that I would need to add “major threat to national defense” to the list. But it seems that this is exactly the corner that we’ve eaten ourselves into.
NY state proposes “fat tax”
I’ve just told you about the Army’s preferred method for fighting obesity. Leave it to a bunch of slimy lawyers to top that: one state has proposed that it levy a soft drink tax because – ready for this? – they think a tax on soda will help to fight childhood obesity.
Yeah, right. It’s more likely New York Gov. David Patterson got a gander at the massive profits America’s soft drink companies rake in, and figured he could use the old saw of “let’s protect the children” to tap into this limitless source of revenue.
The American Beverage Association, which has a huge vested interest in battling the tax says that, “Singling out one particular product for taxation won’t even make a dent in a problem as complex as obesity.”
I know they’re biased, but if you ask me, the ABA is dead on when it comes to this issue.
